Tiger Global, Whale Rock Hedge Funds Surge on Stock Market Rally

(Bloomberg) -- The gains keep coming for a cohort of equity hedge funds benefiting from a resilient stock market.

Alex Sacerdote's Whale Rock Capital Management, Chase Coleman's Tiger Global Management and Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management surged in July, people with knowledge of the returns said, asking not to be named because the information is private.

Some of the funds are benefiting from their focus on technology stocks, largely seen as winners during the Covid-19 lockdowns because their products are suited for social distancing. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index posted its best July in 11 years. The relentless advance of U.S. equities has emboldened managers to push their long bets above their short ones to the highest level in more than a decade, according to Morgan Stanley data.

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.

The funds are outperforming the S&P 500, which rose 1.3% in the first seven months of the year after recovering from the March rout that upended Wall Street's longest-ever bull market. They're also beating peers when some prominent firms are stepping back. The HFRX Equity Hedge Index, an early indicator of performance, lost 5.5% through July. Lansdowne Partners last month shuttered its long-short equity fund, and Sloane Robinson called it a day after more than 25 years.

Read more: Hottest Hedge-Fund Strategy Faces Existential Crisis

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%. Luxor was helped by bets on food-delivery company Delivery Hero SE, software maker Pegasystems Inc., Japanese e-commerce firm Mercari Inc. and media conglomerate InterActiveCorp.

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%.

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.

Spokespeople for the firms declined to comment.

Here's how other equity funds fared, according to investor documents seen by Bloomberg:

• TMT-focused SoMa Equity Partners gained 5.6% in July and 19.3% this year.
• Newbrook Capital Advisors climbed 3.7% in July, taking returns for the year to 13%.

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