The performance of hedge funds for the first half of 2015 varies widely, and this is no more apparent than among those funds with roots in Julian Robertson Jr.’s Tiger Management.
While most of the so-called Tiger Cubs, Seeds and Grandcubs have easily beaten the Standard & Poor’s 500 — which was essentially flat in the first half of the year — several of them have way outpaced their Tiger colleagues.
For example, Nehal Chopra’s Tiger Ratan Capital Fund continues to lead the Tiger pack, posting a 29 percent gain through June after losing a small amount of money in June.
The New York firm, which manages about $1.2 billion, runs a very concentrated portfolio. At the end of the first quarter it only owned nine U.S. stocks.
It certainly helps that its biggest holding, accounting for nearly 30 percent of its assets, is hedge fund favorite Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which surged 56 percent in the first half.
Pharmaceuticals giant Allergan, its second-largest holding at the end of the first quarter, was up roughly 44 percent in the first half, while Kraft Foods, the fourth-largest holding (fully established in the first quarter), jumped 37 percent in the first half of the year.
London-based Toscafund Asset Management’s Tosca Opportunity, headed by Martin Hughes, gained 8.63 percent in the second quarter and 14.8 percent for the first half. The fund rose 1 percent last year after Hughes worked hard to protect his 56 percent gains from 2013.
Gains have been driven by two longtime winning positions — Regus, a global company that rents office space, and Redrow, the UK homebuilder. In June 2014, Hughes closed Tosca Opportunity and its sister fund, Tosca Mid Cap, to additional inflows.
The firm’s Tosca Fund, managed by Johnny de la Hey, returned about 10.8 percent in the first half even after losing more than 1 percent in June. The fund takes a particular interest in financial-related stocks, mostly in Europe.
Lee Ainslie III’s Maverick Fund, managed by Dallas-based Maverick Capital, gained 14.25 percent in the first half. It added more than 3 percent this month through July 17 and is now up more than 17 percent for the year.
Ainslie’s Maverick Long Fund returned 11.4 percent, suggesting that the Dallas-based manager made pretty good money on his short positions. This is unusual among the Tiger crowd, which has been struggling with its short positions.
As we earlier reported, Jonathan Auerbach’s long-short fund, Hound Partners, managed by the New York firm of the same name, posted a 17.23 percent gross gain in the first half and a 13.12 net return. However, the long equity portfolio rose 18.32 percent on a gross basis.
We also recently reported that Stephen Mandel Jr.’s Lone Cypress, managed by Lone Pine Capital, rose 2.7 percent in the second quarter and 6.9 percent for the year, while Lone Kauri rose 2.8 percent in the quarter and 7.6 percent for the year, and Lone Tamarack gained 2.6 percent for the quarter and 7.9 percent for the year. Lone Cascade, the Greenwich, Connecticut firm’s long-only fund, added 2.2 percent in the second quarter and 6.8 percent for the first half.
The three funds managed by O. Andreas Halvorsen’s Greenwich, Connecticut-based Viking Global Investors have also fared fairly well this year, although not nearly as well as some of the others. The firm’s long-short fund, Viking Global Equities, returned 0.8 percent for the quarter and 5.6 percent for the first half of the year. Once again, the firm’s short positions apparently proved to be a problem, since the Viking Long Fund is up 7.3 percent for the year.
Meanwhile, Viking Global Opportunities, the so-called hybrid fund launched at the beginning of the year, rose 0.9 percent in the second quarter and is up 6.2 percent for the year.
Elsewhere, Benjamin Gambill’s New York–based Tiger Eye gained slightly in June and is now up 5 percent for the year.
Not all Tiger-related funds are faring well this year.
For example, New York-based Tiger Global Management’s Tiger Global fund is only up 1 percent through June.
Meanwhile, Chris Hansen’s Valiant Capital, managed by San Francisco-based Valiant Capital Management, only moved into positive territory in June, posting a gain of 3.28 percent for the month. As a result, the fund is up more than 2 percent for the year.
The performance was consistent across the board. The firm’s liquid fund returned 3.29 percent in June after gaining 3.36 percent in May, while its side pockets rose 3.25 percent in June and are now up about 8.5 percent for the year.
And Glade Brook Capital Management’s Glade Brook Global Offshore Fund has gained just 2.1 percent for the year after returning 0.70 percent in June.
