| Chase Coleman, Tiger Global Management (photo credit: Amanda L. Gordon/Bloomberg) |
What a difference a year makes, huh?
Several of the biggest, oldest firms operated by the so-called Tiger Cubs are off to their best starts in several years and are among the top-performing hedge funds in 2017. Their gains are being driven in part by some of those hotshot internet and media stocks that are propelling the markets in general — you know, the so-called FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon.com, Netflix, and Google, which trades under the name of parent company Alphabet).
However, the Cubs also have made some shrewd bets on several technology-related stocks they initially invested in several years ago and that are paying off this year in a big way. None of the firms would comment for this story.
For example, Tiger Global Management, founded by Chase Coleman, surged another 4.7 percent in May and is now up 23 percent for the year. It lost 15.3 percent last year. As a result, the firm’s long-short funds are solidly above their high-water mark.
Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management posted a 3.2 percent gain in one of its funds in May, boosting the fund’s return for the year to 17.9 percent. Coatue’s funds posted gains in the low to single digits last year.
The long-short funds managed by Stephen Mandel Jr.’s Lone Pine Capital are up in the high teens for the year, while the long-only fund is up more than 20 percent. Last year Lone Pine’s funds were roughly flat. The long-short funds fell by between 1 percent and 2 percent, while the long-only fund returned about 1 percent.
All three of these firms were launched by former employees of Julian Robertson Jr.’s Tiger Management. Coleman was both an employee and seeded by Tiger. The three firms also rank among the 100 largest hedge fund firms in the world. We have earlier highlighted that a number of smaller Tiger-related funds are up similarly this year as well.
As we have previously reported, Tiger Global has made virtually all of its money this year from its long positions, led by the Priceline Group, Amazon.com, and Alibaba Group Holding. These stocks are up 14 percent, 32 percent, and 40 percent, respectively, during the first five months of the year. Alibaba is also Lone Pine’s sixth-largest U.S. long position and Coatue’s eighth-largest U.S. long position.
Shares of Facebook have surged 31 percent this year. The social media pioneer is Coatue’s largest U.S. long and Lone Pine’s eighth largest.
Meanwhile, two stocks are among the top four longs of both Coatue and Lone Pine.
Broadcom gained 8.6 percent last month and is up 35 percent for the year. On May 28 it was acquired by rival chipmaker Avago Technologies for $37 billion, and the Broadcom name was the one that was retained. The other stock is online video game maker Activision Blizzard, which gained 12 percent last month and 62 percent for the year.
Both Coatue and Lone Pine have also benefited from major cable companies. Charter Communications, Lone Pine’s largest U.S. stock holding, gained about 20 percent for the first five months of the year. Liberty Broadband Corp., Coatue’s second-largest long holding, is up nearly 22 percent this year.
Lone Pine is also said to have fared pretty well with its short positions, including those betting against the retail industry.
