Tiger Global’s Chase Coleman: With This Reclusive Billionaire, Actions Speak Louder Than Words
One of Julian Robertson’s most successful disciples, Chase Coleman has managed to amass a billion-dollar fortune on the stock market before even hitting the age of 40. The billionaire has been at the helm of Tiger Global Management since the turn of the century. Despite his Wall Street achievements, he maintains a very low profile, rendering him one of investment’s most intriguing figures as well.
Early Life and Education
Born Charles Payson Coleman III, Coleman grew up in Glen Head, Long Island and comes from a rather affluent family. His father was a partner at New York law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and his mother the owner of an interior design firm. The members of the Coleman family are descendants of Pieter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor whose administration was responsible for building the protective wall on Wall Street in the 17th century.
Chase Coleman attended Williams College, from which he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Economics. After graduating, he joined Tiger Management, the hedge fund run by Julian Robertson, as a technology analyst. In 2000, Robertson gave Coleman $25 million to start his own fund. In turn, the now-billionaire launched Tiger Technology Management, which he eventually renamed Tiger Global.
Investment Philosophy
Coleman’s investment portfolio reveals a clear penchant for the technology sector, though he diversifies across industries as well. As of Q1 2014, online travel company Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) is Tiger Global’s top allocation, followed by media and entertainment giant Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA) and children’s apparel manufacturer Carter’s Inc. (NYSE:CRI). The investor isn’t afraid from looking abroad for opportunities either, his portfolio including international companies Criteo (a Frech firm) and 58.com (out of China).
Venture capital also appears to be an area of interest for Coleman, especially when it comes to up-and-coming tech startups. Tiger Global has invested in a number of businesses, including Quora, Flipkart and Thumbtack. As recently as April, it revealed that it had raised $1.5 billion for a venture capital fund in a filing with the SEC.
Coleman’s strategy is a successful one, as Tiger is one of the best-performing hedge funds in recent history. It returned 45% in 2011, 23% in 2012 and 14% in 2013, and from inception to 2007, the fund averaged an annualized return of 44%. Tiger Global did hit a slump in 2008 and 2009 — the result of the global financial crisis.
Like his mentor, Julian Robertson, Coleman is prone to make big bets on companies he likes. And he certainly doesn’t mind going short when he sees an underperforming sector or company, a trait that helped him rebound after 2009.
Coleman in Q1
As mentioned, Chase Coleman is notoriously quiet on the public front, shunning the spotlight and never granting interviews. As such, the best way to “read” the billionaire is through his actions. And a good place to start is his investment portfolio in Q1.
New Acquisitions
Coleman’s fund added 10 new companies to its portfolio in Q1. Its most notable new acquisition was of 3.9 million shares of Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR). The car rental company now comprises 2.57% of the fund’s holdings. Other notable new additions include Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ:Z), Trulia Inc. (NYSE:TRLA) and UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:UTIW).
Increased Positions
Tiger Global made upward adjustments to 14 of its investment positions in Q1, two of which were especially worth noting.
The fund upped the ante in Mastercard (NYSE:MA) by 880% and how holds 3.44 million assets (3.48% of its entire holdings). Mastercard was a clear favorite among a number of hedge funds and investors in Q1, as billionaires Richard Chilton, Steve Mandel, Julian Robertson, Warren Buffett and George Soros made major adjustements to their positions in the credit card giant as well. You’ll also find Mastercard listed on the iBillionaire Index (NYSE:BILLION), with a 2.23% weight.
Charter Communications (NYSE:CHTR) also made its way up in the Tiger Global ranks, as the fund increased its allocation in the firm by 377%. It now holds 1.63 million shares — 2.72% of its entire holdings.
Decreased Positions
Tiger Global scaled back nine positions in Q1, the most noteworthy being a 36% decrease in its allocation in Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MSI). Billionaire investors Leon Cooperman and Ray Dalio also backed off of the telecom firm, which revealed that it had missed the mark on Q1 results at the start of May.
Sold Out
The Chase Coleman-run hedge fund cashed out of a fair share of companies during the start of the year as well. It eliminated over 10% of its portfolio by closing its positions in Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon (NYSE:AMZN). Yahoo and Netflix exited the iBillionaire Index as well.
Learn more about Chase Coleman and Tiger Global here, and follow the billionaire’s day-to-day movements on iBillionaire for Android and iOS.
