The broad stock market indices in April suffered their worst monthly losses since September 2023.
But a number of Tiger-related funds were able to avoid similar losses and actually squeeze out small gains for the month. They can thank their short-selling and other hedging strategies — in other words, they did what their investors expect hedge funds to do.
Take Maverick Capital. The hedge fund firm headed by Tiger Cub Lee Ainslie III posted a roughly 65-basis-point gain in its main long-short fund, in April. As a result, it is up 9.8 percent year-to-date, according to a hedge fund database. Maverick Long Fund lost nearly 5 percent for the month, cutting its gain for the year to 6.93 percent, says the database.
The disparity in the two funds’ performance suggests Maverick’s long portfolio was down in line with the broad averages but its shorts more than made up for the shortfall.
Maverick Long Enhanced Fund was down about 4.4 percent for the month but is up 8.26 percent for the year. The fund targets 130 percent long and 30 percent short exposure to achieve 100 percent exposure to the market, per the database.
Elsewhere, Light Street Capital’s long-short fund gained 25 basis points last month, boosting its gain for the year to 35.65 percent, says someone who has seen the results. On the other hand, Glen Kacher’s long-only fund lost 5.9 percent, more than the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, and is now up 19.6 percent for the year.
O. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global Investors, for its part, was able to squeeze out a 10 basis points gain in its long-short fund in April, boosting its rise for the year to 5.9 percent, according to a person who has seen the results. At the same time, its long-only fund lost 3.9 percent for the month, reducing its gain for 2024 to 5.8 percent, the source says.
Chris Hansen’s Valiant Capital Partners Onshore’s liquid portfolio was up 1 percent in April and 6.1 percent for the year, according to an email sent to clients and seen by Institutional Investor.
II previously reported that Dan Gibson’s Sylebra Capital Partners Master Fund climbed 3.8 percent in April and is up 27.2 percent for the year, reports someone familiar with the results. In April, Sylebra’s longs cost it 3.8 percent of performance whereas the shorts kicked in 8 percent to gains, the source says. For the year, the hedge fund made 5 percent from its longs and 23 percent from its shorts.