Valiant Capital Management generated very strong gains in September. As a result, the long-short firm headed by Chris Hansen is perhaps the top-performing Tiger-related hedge fund this year through the third quarter.
The public portfolio of its hedge fund, Valiant Capital Partners, surged 6.18 percent last month and is now up 30.77 percent for the year, according to an investor. The hedge fund got a nice boost on the long side from a big bet on the power industry. In fact, its new side pocket vehicle jumped an additional 9.36 percent in September and is up 44.68 percent for the year, according to an email sent to investors and seen by Institutional Investor.
Valiant saw gains from a large stake in crypto miner Core Scientific, known for its power business and data centers, which in July agreed to be acquired by CoreWeave for $9 billion. Core Scientific rose 25 percent in September alone. At the end of June, it was Valiant’s second-largest equity long and biggest U.S. equity long, accounting for 9.11 percent of the hedge fund’s portfolio, the second-quarter letter says. At the end of the second quarter, Valiant also held a sizable position in Core Scientific’s call options, according to its 13F filing.
Chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the third-largest long as of the end of June, was up about 21 percent in September. Chip maker Broadcom climbed nearly 11 percent for the month.
Roughly half of Valiant’s long exposure and one-third of its net exposure is in the U.S., a recent client letter reveals. Its longtime bet on India is the next-biggest country exposure.
Elsewhere among the Tiger crowd, Stephen Mandel Jr.’s Lone Pine Capital is also a top performer. Lone Cypress, the long-short fund, was up nearly 5 percent in the third quarter and 23 percent for the year. Long-only fund Lone Cascade increased a little more than 5 percent in the third quarter and about 26 percent for the year, an investor says.
One-quarter to one-third of the firm’s investments are listed on non-U.S. exchanges. Lone Pine also benefited from TSMC, its fifth-largest U.S.-listed long, which surged more than 23 percent for the quarter. Online used-car company Carvana, a position Lone Pine initiated in the first quarter, also kicked in to performance. The stock was up 12 percent in the second quarter and 85 percent for the year. It is not known exactly when the hedge fund made its initial investment, but it cut the stake by nearly one-quarter in the second quarter.
Elsewhere, Robert Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management added 5.45 percent last month, bringing its rise for the year to 25.13 percent, according to an email correspondence with investors that was seen by II. Discovery’s September gains were driven by digital assets, with AI the largest contributor, followed by materials and mining (focused on rare earths) and Nigeria, according to an investor. The hedge fund is part macro, part fundamental global equities, in both developed and developing countries.
Light Street Capital also had a strong September. Its long-short fund gained 5.6 percent for the month and is up 11.5 percent for 2025, and its long-only fund rose 6.3 percent in September and 13.2 percent for the year, says someone who saw the results.
Coatue Partners, for its part, picked up 5.7 percent last month and is now up 14.7 percent for the year, according to a person who viewed the results.
D1 Capital Partners suffered a slight setback in September, losing 33 basis points. However, it remains a top performer, rising 23.5 percent for the year, according to two people who have seen the results.
Lee Ainslie III’s Maverick Capital added about 1.2 percent to its long-short fund, which is up 19 percent for the year, according to a hedge fund database. Maverick Long gained about 2.5 percent in September and 22.3 percent for the year, and Maverick Long Enhanced climbed about 2.4 percent for the month and 26.2 percent for 2025.
Tiger Global Management was up 2 percent in its long-short fund last month and 13.5 percent for the year, reports someone who has seen the results. Its crossover fund rose 4.4 percent last month and has jumped 22.6 percent for the year.
Viking Global Investors’ hedge fund lags the group. It picked up 0.7 percent in the third quarter and 5.6 percent for the year, according to an investor. This is not surprising. It has less tech and artificial intelligence exposure than many other Tiger funds and is generally less volatile. It was not as badly hurt as its peers during the market sell-off several years ago, so it returned to its high-water mark long before any of the other funds (a few still have not reached that coveted line).
Viking Long Fund is up 17.6 percent for the year after gaining 4 percent in the third quarter, suggesting the firm was damaged more by its shorts than other firms. Viking declined to comment.
