Billion-Dollar Startups Show New Hedge Funds Are Thriving

(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund launches this year are on pace to match last year's numbers, even as returns have been more subdued than 2020's big gains.

And the 2022 startups could be even bigger, possibly led by former Viking Global Investors manager Divya Nettimi, given that Viking has spawned some of the most notable debuts of the past few years, according to people familiar with her plans.

Most of the startups will focus on equities, specializing in areas such as biotech or technology and hoping to capitalize on 2020's outperformance by such specialized hedge funds, which beat the broader market. So far this year, these so-called sector funds have woefully lagged behind the S&P 500, returning about a fifth of the benchmark's gains, according to research firm PivotalPath.

The number of new firms in 2021 is on track to match last year's total of about 60, according to Morgan Stanley. Even with the pandemic, about 20% more firms launched last year than in 2019. A few raised $1 billion or more.

So far this year, at least four new firms are on track to meet or surpass the $1 billion money-raising mark.

Two former Citadel money managers Niall O'Keeffe and Tio Charbaghi started London-based FIFTHDELTA on Thursday with $1.25 billion.

Read more: Hedge Fund Says No New Clients After Launching with $1.3 Billion

Rami Abdel-Misih, who worked at Louis Bacon's Moore Capital Management for almost a decade, opened Mane Global earlier this year with about $1 billion from Moore for his stock fund and raised an additional $200 million from other clients, people familiar with the firm said. Abdel-Misih, 42, is concentrating on consumer, technology, media and telecommunications stocks.

David Kroin's Deep Track Capital started in April with about $800 million, with $500 million more expected by year-end, according to people familiar with his firm.

Kroin, 45, worked at Great Point Partners for 17 years, primarily running the firm's biotech hedge fund, which managed about $1.4 billion at the beginning of 2020.

Grant Wonders, another ex-Viking Global technology manager, started Voyager Global this year with close to $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the firm.

Read more: Viking Technology Portfolio Manager Exits to Start Hedge Fund

IPO Market

Chris Golden, who co-founded Darsana Capital Partners in 2014, plans to start his own firm later this year or in early 2022, and people familiar with his plans said it could also be among the larger debuts. He'll focus on public and private companies, a trend that has been embraced by many equity funds given the strong market for initial public offerings.

Viking Global's Nettimi, 35, whose firm has yet to be named, will concentrate on technology, media and telecommunications, and also invest in public and private companies.

Tarigh Yusufi will open Forest Avenue Capital Management in Miami in the first half of 2022, investing in renewable energy, industrials and consumer stocks.

All of the managers declined to comment.

*By year-end

**Launch expected in Q4 or 2022

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