Famed activist investor and philanthropist Chris Hohn’s fund lost money last year, breaking its streak of 13 straight profitable years as stocks tumbled.
(Bloomberg) — Famed activist investor and philanthropist Chris Hohn’s fund lost money last year, breaking its streak of 13 straight profitable years as stocks tumbled.
His TCI Fund declined by 18%, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. It was the fund’s second annual loss since it launched in 2004, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The loss was caused by the firm’s top bets such as Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp., which plunged as growth stocks sold off amid rising interest rates last year.
Hohn, who is best known for building stakes in companies and agitating for change to help boost share prices, runs a long-biased portfolio spread over a small number of stocks. The strategy can make it susceptible to sharp drops in values when stocks tumble.
Most recently, Hohn took on Google parent Alphabet Inc. and said the firm needs to take “aggressive action” to reduce expenses and scale back an overgrown headcount. Alphabet was the fund’s top holding at the end of September, according to a filing. The stock fell 39% last year.
A spokesman for London-based TCI Fund Management, which manages just under $40 billion in the fund and about $50 billion across the firm, declined to comment.
TCI joins a cohort of stocks focused hedge funds to lose money last year as multi-year bull market in equities ended under pressure from central banks starting to reverse years of quantitative easing to control soaring inflation.
Among the biggest losers was Tiger Global, which slumped 56%, while Whale Rock declined by 45% and Lone Pine Cascade falling 42%, Bloomberg has reported.
Hohn previously worked at the London office of Perry Capital and started TCI and an affiliated charity, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, in 2004 after earning a reputation as a gifted stockpicker. The foundation has grown to $6 billion, according to its website. Among TCI’s alumni is Rishi Sunak, who became UK prime minister last year.
Hohn, whose net worth is estimated at $7.5 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, had been pushing his portfolio companies in the recent years to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and disclose their carbon footprint.
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