market folly

(This post is part of our series on tracking hedge fund portfolios. If you're unfamiliar with tracking investments they disclose via SEC filings, check out our series preface on hedge fund filings.)

Next up is investment guru and legend Julian Robertson who founded one of the lauded hedge funds of the era, Tiger Management. He grew the fund from $8 million at inception to over $22 billion at its peak. Between 1980 and 2000, Tiger compounded a gross rate of 31.5%, but after losses of 4% in 1998 and 19% in 1999, Tiger shut down. For more information on Julian, check out Daniel Strackman's book entitled, Julian Robertson: A Tiger in the Land Of Bulls And Bears.

Since Tiger's dissolution, Robertson's former employees have started successful funds of their own, deemed the 'Tiger Cubs'. Additionally, Robertson has himself seeded some other managers with vast potential, dubbed the 'Tiger Seeds'. This vast and expansive network of hedge fund managers is almost akin to a farm system for stockpickers and we track the majority of these funds. To learn more about Tiger Management, head to our in-depth profile of Julian Robertson.

While his hedge fund Tiger Management closed down years ago, Julian Robertson still makes investments via the Tiger Management LLC vehicle as evidenced by SEC filings. As such, we will continue to track Robertson's holdings via this vehicle's public disclosures. In the past, we've gotten a tiny glimpse at Robertson's portfolio when in late 2009 we saw he had placed a bet that interest rates would rise in the future via constant maturity swaps. We haven't heard too much from him as of late but we'll of course post anything of interest in the future. If you want to jump back in time, we've posted an interview with Robertson from back in 1998 around Tiger's peak.

The positions listed below were Tiger Management's long equity, note, and options holdings as of March 31st, 2010 as filed with the SEC. All holdings are common stock unless otherwise denoted:


Brand New Positions
Priceline.com (PCLN)
Apollo Group (APOL)
Hologic (HOLX)
LCA Vision (LCAV)
Madison Square Garden (MSG) ~ due to a spin-off from Cablevision
Sensata Technologies (ST)


Increased Positions
Verisk Analytics (VRSK): Increased position size by 30.3%
Intel (INTC): Increased by 20.6%
EMC (EMC): Increased by 17.5%


Reduced Positions
Solutia (SOA): Reduced position size by 31.9%
Mastercard (MA): Reduced by 24.5%
Lamar Advertising (LAMR): Reduced by 19.7%
Fidelity National Information (FIS): Reduced by 19.6%
DirecTV (DTV): Reduced by 18.6%
Talisman Energy (TLM): Reduced by 15.1%
Visa (V): Reduced by 14.8%
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS): Reduced by 13.6%


Positions They Sold Out of Completely
Google (GOOG)
Walmart (WMT)
Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)
SBA Communications (SBAC)
Teradata (TDC)
Maxim Integrated (MXIM)
Genoptix (GXDX)
IAC Interactive (IACI)


Top 15 Holdings (by percentage of assets reported on 13F filing)

1. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) Calls: 8.22%
2. Monsanto (MON) Calls: 5.96%
3. Intel (INTC): 4.58%
4. Wuxi Pharmatech (WX): 3.68%
5. Apple (AAPL): 3.48%
6. CVS Caremark (CVS): 3.47%
7. DigitalGlobe (DGI): 3.45%
8. Visa (V): 3.44%
9. Solutia (SOA): 3.35%
10. Mastercard (MA): 3.26%
11. Skyworks (SWKS): 3.15%
12. Dick Sporting Goods (DKS): 3.13%
13. Verisk Analytics (VRSK): 3.13%
14. DirecTV (DTV): 3.09%
15. EMC (EMC): 3.08%

It should come as no surprise that the Tiger Management founder himself has a portfolio reminiscent of other 'Tiger Cub' hedge funds. After all, since Robertson often gets to listen in on meetings and chat with these managers, he can cherry pick their best ideas as well as add his own into the mix. Julian has a large position in CVS Caremark, just like Lee Ainslie and Maverick Capital which is probably hurting performance after the recent plunge in shares. Additionally, Robertson owns DirecTV which we've seen Chase Coleman's Tiger Global is bullish on. Lastly, Tiger holds perennial favorites like Apple, Mastercard, Visa, and Verisk Analytics.

On a sector level, Robertson severely decreased technology exposure and ramped up positions in services. In terms of sales, Robertson liquidated his Google (GOOG) position which is intriguing because many other managers own this name as it's one of the most important stocks to hedge funds. Since Robertson exited in the first quarter, it seems to have been the right decision as GOOG shares have spiraled down. He also sold off Wal-Mart (WMT) common stock but maintains a very hefty position in WMT call options. Tiger Management's portfolio overall saw more selling than buying as assets reported decreased. The 13F filing shows Tiger had $574 million in reported assets this quarter, down from over $600 million in the quarter prior (remember that these filings are not representative of the hedge fund's entire base of AUM).

To see the latest hedge fund portfolios, we recommend using Alphaclone as Market Folly readers receive a special free 14 day trial. It's our source for hedge fund data, replication, backtesting and more. This post is part of our daily hedge fund portfolio tracking series. We've already detailed activity from numerous managers so click the links below to be taken to the respective portfolio updates. We've covered investment gurus such as: Seth Klarman's Baupost Group and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and George Soros.

Additionally, value and activist funds such as: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square, David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Eddie Lampert's RBS Partners, David Tepper's Appaloosa Management, Mohnish Pabrai's Investment Fund, Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Capital Management, Dan Loeb's Third Point.

'Tiger Cub' funds like: Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, Roberto Mignone's Bridger Management, and Shumway Capital Partners.

'Tiger Seed' funds that were seeded by Julian Robertson, including: Chase Coleman's Tiger Global.

Our latest addition, hedge funds started by former employees of various Tiger Cub/Tiger Seed funds: David Stemerman's Conatus Capital.

And lastly, other hedge funds employing various other strategies ranging from risk arbitrage to distressed to global macro: John Paulson's hedge fund Paulson & Co, Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners,

Be sure to check back daily for new hedge fund updates.