15 Value Hedge Funds - Portfolio Update
Are the top value hedge funds going to beat the market every quarter, or just outperform when the market is going up?
Maybe we should ask Will Ferrell, errr, I mean Robert Goulet:
"You win, you always do - that's why I come up here." (Email me if you can find the video, SNL is killing me with the way they take down all of their content.)
All data is from the close on Wednesday.

It is time to update the two hedge fund 13F portfolios we track on World Beta. If you are unfamiliar with the approach, it is spelled out numerous times on my blog - you can just search "13F" and a bunch of posts will pop up.
I am not sure if I am going to continue to track these after the launch (hopefully next month) of AlphaClone. This blog is mostly about investment theory and applications rather than making investment advice and picks, so unless there is a lot of interest I may discontinue the updates. The strategies have outperformed the indexes by around 15% over the past year and a half, and there is some validity behind the approach. The two strategies we have tracked seem to follow the market on the downside but have much higher upside volatility. Those numbers are in line with my historical backtests of 6-12% outperformance per year. If you have a strong opinion either way, let me know. On to the filings!
Hedge Fund Consensus - Top holdings owned by 15 value hedge funds, ranked by number of funds with the same position. Qualcomm (QCOM) was the standout performer at around 18%, and American Express (AXP) was the worst performer at -23%. Everyone still loves Qualcomm, but everyone really loves American Express now. Is it a falling knife or just a really cheap stock? Currently AXP is down about -40% from its high.
| Apple (AAPL) (3) |
| Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (3) |
| Mastercard (MA) (3) |
| QCOM(3) |
| Target (TGT) (3) |
| Visa (V) (3) |
WellPoint (WLP) (4)
| America Movil (AMX) (5) |
| Google (GOOG) (5) |
| Microsoft (MSFT) (5) |
AXP (6)
The list of double repeats is at the end of the post.
Hedge Fund Best Ideas - Top two holdings from each of 10 value hedge funds listed below. Qualcomm was the standout performer here as well, and Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) and News Corp (NWS) were the worst at around -31%.
| AAPL |
| American Tower (AMT) |
| AMX |
| AXP |
| CDNS |
| CA (CA) |
| Cypress Semi (CY) |
| GOOG |
| Helix Energy (HLX) |
| Hewlett Packard (HPQ) |
| Coca-Cola (KO) |
| MA |
| MSFT |
| NWS |
| Research in Motion (RIMM) |
| SandRidge Energy (SD) |
| TGT |
| Wells Fargo WFC |
| WLP |
| WYE |
----
Baupost Group
Klarman still holds his top positions in News Corp, Wellpoint, and Exterran (EXH). New positions include PDL Biopharma (PDLI) and United Health Group (UNH).
Top 10 holdings are:
| WLP |
| NWS |
| EXH |
| PDLI |
| UNH |
| Domtar (UFS) |
| LINN Energy (LINE) |
| Liberty Media (LMDIA) |
| Theravance (THRX) |
| Horizon Lines (HRZ) |
----
Blue Ridge Capital
Griffin runs a pretty diversified portfolio, and he added to top names Google and Wyeth. New positions include Anadarko (APC) and Visa.
Top 10 holdings are:
| GOOG |
| WYE |
| AXP |
| AAPL |
| Covanta (CVA) |
| Millipore (MIL) |
| Grupo Televisa (TV) |
| Charles Schwab (SCHW) |
| APC |
| Discovery (DISCA) |
----
Warren Buffett
Not much going on here. Bought some NRG Energy (NRG), sold his Conoco (COP).
Top 10 holdings are:
| KO |
| WFC |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
| Burlington (BNI) |
| AXP |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
| Kraft (KFT) |
| Wesco Financial (WSC) |
| US Bancorp (USB) |
| Moody's (MCO) |
----
Eminence Capital
New position in Google and Abbott (ABT), sold out of Yahoo (YHOO) and UPS (UPS). Added to top positions American Express (AXP) and Cypress Semi (CY).
Top 10 holdings are:
| AXP |
| CY |
| Oracle (ORCL) |
| Philips (PHG) |
| Fiserv (FISV) |
| Quest Diagnostics (DGX) |
| MSFT |
| SAIC (SAI) |
| United Technologies (UTX) |
| International Game Technology (IGT) |
----
Greenlight Capital
50% of Einhorn's portfolio is in his top five holdings. New positions in Teradata (TDC) and Republic Airways (RJET).
Top 10 holdings are:
| TGT |
| HLX |
| MSFT |
| Ameriprise Financial (AMP) |
| MDC (MDC) |
| Health Management Associates (HMA) |
| Einstein Noah Restaurant (BAGL) |
| MI Developments (MIM) |
| URS (URS) |
| Patriot Coal (PCX) |
----
Lone Pine Capital
Sold off some of top holdings SandRidge (SD) and America Movil (AMX). Bought new positions in Entergy (ETR) and Weatherford (WFT).
Top 10 holdings are:
| SD |
| AMX |
| XTO Energy (XTO) |
| GOOG |
| QCOM |
| ETR |
| Fastenal (FAST) |
| WFT |
| Monsanto (MON) |
| MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) |
----
Maverick Capital
Ainslie added new positions in First Solar (FSLR) and CVS Caremark (CVS). Sold Qualcomm and Amazon.
Top 10 holdings are:
| AAPL |
| RIMM |
| AMX |
| Bank of New York (BK) |
| Marvell (MRVL) |
| FSLR |
| Baxter (BAX) |
| AMD (AMD) |
| Nordstrom (JWN) |
| Raytheon (RTN) |
----
Okumus Capital
Lots of turnover here. 60% of the portfolio is in the top three positions Microsoft (MSFT), Cadence Design (CDNS), and Office Depot (ODP). MSFT is a new position and accounts for a third of the portfolio.
Top 10 holdings are:
| MSFT |
| CDNS |
| ODP |
| Macy's (M) |
| AutoNation (AN) |
| McGraw-Hill (MHP) |
| O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY) |
| DST (DST) |
| Expedia (EXPE) |
| CTA |
----
Private Capital
Bought a little Sothebys (BID), sold out of BEA Systems (BEAS).
Top 10 holdings are:
| CA |
| HPQ |
| Symantec (SYMC) |
| MGM Mirage (MGM) |
| Sprint (S) |
| Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) |
| Raymong James Financial (RJF) |
| JW May's (JW) |
| IGT |
| Northern Trust (NTRS) |
----
Tiger Global
Mentor (MNT) and Trustmark (TRMK) are new positions, and sold out of Luxottica (LUX) and Focus Media (FMCN).
Top 10 holdings are:
| MA |
| AMT |
| CSX (CSX) |
| GOOG |
| AMX |
| QCOM |
| Baidu.com (BIDU) |
| SBA Communications (SBAC) |
| TransDigm (TDG) |
| MercadoLibre (MELI) |
----
List of double repeats:
| AMT |
| APC |
| BID |
| BNI |
| CA |
| CDNS |
| CSCO |
| COV |
| CY |
| DST |
| ETN |
| IGT |
| HPQ |
| HMA |
| HLX |
| KO |
| MDC |
| MSTR |
| MRVL |
| NWS |
| ODP |
| ORCL |
| PCLN |
| RIMM |
| SAI |
| SD |
| TDC |
| UNH |
| WFC |
| WMB |
| WMT |
Related Articles
|
Hedge Fund Jobs
Job Seekers: Search jobs by category, get job alerts by email or live feed, apply online See full list of jobs »
Employers: See all recruitment options, get applications online or by email Post a job »




This article has 6 comments:
- nickgogert
- 216 Comments
My Website
Aug 21 09:29 AM- Eric Fox
- 179 Comments
My Website
Aug 21 11:35 AM- Jake2
- 235 Comments
My Website
Aug 21 12:15 PM- SkipinCA
- 23 Comments
Aug 21 02:18 PMYou should do some further research on whether Buffett sold COP. I saw another post that he, in fact, got an expemption from the SEC to not report is position in that stock. Therefore, it simply droppped from the list and not sold. Given that COP is pretty cheap compared to the rest and that he and Gates were up in Canada looking at oil sands, it seems unlikely that he just punched out of this position in one quarter
- WorldBeta
- 20 Comments
My Website
Aug 21 03:13 PMFox - I simply picked 10 funds that have historically been considered value investors - and I define that as buying something for less than it is worth.
User 164258 - you are correct and the glitch is fixed on my blog. . .
- irondoor91
- 120 Comments
Aug 24 11:58 PMMore by Mebane Faber