Largest US Equity Hedge Funds Revealed; Renaissance, D.E. Shaw & Paulson & Co. claim top spots

April 7th, 2010
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HedgeTracker has released its list of the largest US Equity Hedge Fund managers for 2009. The top hedge fund manager, David Shaw’s D.E. Shaw & Co, beat out Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies by $540 million. D.E. Shaw & Co, a New York-based hedge fund manager that was founded in 1982 by Mr. Shaw, managed $26,701 million in US Equity Assets at the end of 2009, according to SEC filings. D.E. Shaw’s approach to investing is highly quantitative and employs a number of proprietary models designed to exploit independent sources of market inefficiencies. The top 5 positions in D.E. Shaw’s overall portfolio were:
- JP Morgan Chase (JPM): $534.9mm / 12,836,937 shares, 0.3% held, Change: $-79.4mm / -1,182,796 shares
- Warner Chilcott (WCRX): $524.3mm / 18,415,967 shares, 7.3% held, Change: $524.3mm / 18,415,967 shares
- Apple Inc (AAPL): $514.7mm / 2,440,878 shares, 0.3% held, Change: $117.0mm / 295,329 shares
- Qualcomm Inc (QCOM): $333.5mm / 7,208,987 shares, 0.4% held, Change: $-107.4mm / -2,592,538 shares
- General Electric (GE): $321.6mm / 21,252,766 shares, 0.2% held, Change: $103.6mm / 7,976,351 shares

Renaissance Technologies, which relies heavily on quantitative models, is second on the list with $26,159 million in assets under management. D.E. Shaw’s equity holdings were down by over $3 billion since 9/30/2009, while Renaissance Technologies’ assets only fell by about $270 million over the same period. Some of Renaissance Technologies drop-off in equities can be attributed to it selling out of large positions:
- Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) - Change: -$247.3mm / -5,038,500 shares
- Procter & Gamble (PG) - Change: $-143.1mm / -2,470,029 shares
- Nike Inc (NKE) - Change: $-127.2mm / -1,965,900 shares
- XTO Energy (XTO) - Change: $-121.4mm / -2,937,923 shares
- Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG) - Change: $-112.6mm / -429,470 shares

Renaissance Technologies also made a number of notable purchases, including:
- Apple Inc (AAPL): $540.9mm / 2,566,819 shares, 0.3% held, Change: $320.2mm / 1,519,700 shares
- Ford Motor Co (F): $311.3mm / 31,134,809 shares, 1.1% held, Change: $226.7mm / 22,673,200 shares
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS): $146.5mm / 867,600 shares, 0.2% held, Change: $137.9mm / 816,900 shares
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI): $123.0mm / 1,247,000 shares, 0.4% held, Change: $123.0mm / 1,247,000 shares
- Priceline Com (PCLN): $122.8mm / 562,199 shares, 1.2% held, Change: $116.9mm / 535,299 shares

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For Detailed Investor Profiles on these Investors, click below:
Adage Capital Partners
D.E. Shaw & Co
ESL Investments
Paulson & Co.
Renaissance Technologies Corporation
Related People: Andrew Hoine; Anne Dinning; David E. Shaw; Eddie Lampert; Eric Wepsic; Jim Simons; John Paulson; Julius Gaudio; Louis Salkind; Max Stone; Mena Gerowin; Mike Barr; Phil Gross; Robert Atchinson; Stuart Merzer; Stuart Steckler; William C. Crowley
Related Entities: Adage Capital Advisors LLC; Adage Capital Partners LP; D. E. Shaw Oculus Portfolios, LLC; D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios; D.E. Shaw Group; D.E. Shaw Investment Management; DE Shaw Heliant Fund; ESL Institutional Partners; ESL Investments Inc; Harvard Management; Kmart Holding Corp*; Medallion; Nova; Paulson Advantage Master Ltd; Paulson Advantage Plus Master Ltd; Paulson Real Estate Recovery Fund; PCI; RBS Partners; Renaissance Institutional Equities Funds; Renaissance Institutional Management LLC; Renaissance Technologies LLC; Rentec; Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD)
Related Article Tags: Multi-Strategy, Long Short, Equity, Debt and Global Macro Hedge Fund News; Top Hedge Fund Portfolio Reports

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6 Comments

by HedgeTracker Editors on April 26th, 2010

An expanded list of Top Hedge Fund Managers will be released later this week. Thank you!

by DE Shaw on April 17th, 2010

D.E. Shaw’s equity holdings were down by over $3 billion? Are their hedge funds still closed to new investors?

by Activist King on April 16th, 2010

Who is the largest shareholder activist hedge fund? Would be interesting to see where Falcone's Harbinger, Carl Icahn and Pershing Square fall.

by New Yorker on April 16th, 2010

Where do Maverick Capital, AQR and Soros rank? They should be top 5 or at least 10?

by Hedge Fund Manager on April 14th, 2010

Thought that Citadel would have made the hedge fund list. Where are they ranked?

by US Hedge Funds on April 14th, 2010

What other large Hedge Funds made the list? Looking for the top10 or 20


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