Come on, guys: Chase Coleman and Larry Robbins have figured it out.
Back in March, that horrible transition period between the Before Time and the Awful Present, Renaissance Technologies suffered its worst month ever. Not for its flagship Medallion fund, of course, but for those vehicles in which outsiders can invest. At the time, the firm said the geniuses and innovators making so, so much money from Medallion would turn their attention to making those other funds suck somewhat less. So, how’s that going?
Renaissance Technologies, one of the industry’s best performing hedge fund firms, is down 13.4% this year in its biggest fund open to the public despite the surging U.S. stock market.
While the Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund gained 2.4% last month, it was still outpaced by equities for the year, a rarity in the four-decade history of the firm founded by Jim Simons….
The market-neutral Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha Fund fell 0.6% and the Renaissance Institutional Diversified Global Equities Fund rose 0.4% last month, according to a person familiar with the matter. They’re down about 20% and 18.6%, respectively, for the first seven months of 2020.
Well, allow me to bring to those model-makers’ attention an obscure little hedge fund called Tiger Global and a few other shops who seem to have the COVID-infected stock market figured out.
The flagship at $9 billion Whale Rock, which focuses on technology, media and telecommunications, jumped 6.2%, extending this year’s returns to 47%. Tiger Global climbed 5.4% last month and 23.6% for the year, while Coatue rose 5% in July and 26.6% for the year…. Also extending gains in July was $5 billion Luxor Capital Group. The main fund’s 12% climb brought returns for the year to 31.5%.... Light Street Capital Management, the $2.3 billion tech-focused fund founded by Glen Kacher, gained 2.5% in July, bringing returns for the year to about 40%.
The Haidar Jupiter Fund has restored its status as one of the top-performing hedge funds this year after posting explosive results in July. The volatile macro fund surged 16.30 percent last month and is now up nearly 62% for the year, according to a “flash estimate” sent to investors….
Even those who got boarded even harder by the coronavirus than RenTech are figuring thing the tough ice of the pandemic economy more quickly than the army of Ph.Ds in East Setauket.
Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital Management, whose main fund slumped about 24% in the first half, posted a 7.6% gain last month. The firm is still down 18% for the year.
Renaissance Hedge Funds See Red in 2020 While Market Turns Green [Bloomberg]
Tiger Global, Whale Rock Hedge Funds Surge on Stock Market Rally [Bloomberg]
Haidar Jupiter Posts Blowout Gain in July [II]