Lee Ainslie is the founder of Maverick Capital. He is a pure long/short equity investor. Ainslie has beaten the S&P 500 index on average by about 6-7 percentage points annually but with 50% less volatility, indicating that he has close to a 10% alpha per year though we do not have his monthly returns to calculate his actual alpha. Hedge funds devote significant resources to researching stocks. They sometimes even cross the line to try to obtain material non-public information before investing. Additionally, corporate insiders have material non-public information and they sometimes trade based on such information. Other times they have an edge because they know their companies and industries better than almost all other investors. We believe that by imitating the stock picks of these smartest investors in the world, investors are more likely to beat the market in the long term.
Below we compiled a list of stocks both Ainslie and insiders are bullish about. All stocks are in Ainslie’s portfolio at the end of June and were purchased by at least one insider during the past three months.
Company | Ticker | Value (x1000) | No. of Insiders | Return since June |
JPMORGAN CHASE | 441860 | 4 | -19.71% | |
CORNING INC | 424703 | 1 | -25.37% | |
PFIZER INC | 410739 | 1 | -10.51% | |
FIRST SOLAR INC | 325457 | 2 | -51.06% | |
ORACLE CORP | 278661 | 1 | -8.46% | |
BLACKROCK INC | 274688 | 1 | -20.27% | |
WHITING PETROLEUM | 230409 | 4 | -34.99% | |
LIFE TECHNOLOGIES | 154429 | 4 | -24.37% | |
HCA HOLDINGS INC | 150514 | 1 | -44.64% | |
OWENS CORNING NEW | 141442 | 2 | -36.81% | |
WELLPOINT INC | 140397 | 1 | -17.20% | |
YAHOO INC | 87475 | 2 | 4.06% | |
EATON CORP | 51338 | 1 | -23.65% | |
PACIFIC BIOSCIENCES | 41457 | 1 | -70.17% | |
WINNEBAGO IND | 19261 | 1 | -21.64% | |
BLUEFLY INC | 10371 | 2 | -17.86% | |
MEDLEY CAPITAL | 8560 | 3 | -13.38% |
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM): JPMorgan Chase is a financial holding company. Ainslie had $442 million invested in JPM and the stock was purchased by four insiders over the past three months. JPM has a market cap of $120.68B, a P/E ratio of 6.61, and lost 19.71% since the end of June. Jonathon Jacobson invested $466 million in JPM shares. Bill Miller also had $169 million of JPM stocks (see Bill Miller’s top stock picks).
Corning Inc (GLW): Corning is a technology-based company. Ainslie had $425 million invested in GLW and the stock was purchased by one insider over the past three months. GLW has a market cap of $20.85B, a P/E ratio of 6.32, and lost 25.37% since the end of June. Richard Chilton and Larry Robbins both had $92 million invested in GLW.
Pfizer Inc (PFE): Pfizer is a research-based, global biopharmaceutical company. Ainslie had $411 million invested in PFE and the stock was purchased by one insider over the past three months. PFE has a market cap of $143.79B, a P/E ratio of 17.25, and lost 10.51% since the end of June. David Einhorn and Ken Fisher both had over $400 million invested in PFE stocks (check out Ken Fisher’s top stock picks).
First Solar Inc (FSLR): First Solar manufactures and sells solar modules with an advanced thin-film semiconductor technology. Ainslie had $325 million invested in FSLR and the stock was purchased by two insiders over the past three months. FSLR has a market cap of $5.16B, a P/E ratio of 10.19, and lost 51.06% since the end of June. David Blood, Miguel Nogales, and Al Gore also invested more than $100 million in FSLR.
Oracle Corp (ORCL): Oracle Corporation is an enterprise software company. Ainslie had $279 million invested in ORCL and the stock was purchased by one insider over the past three months. ORCL has a market cap of $149.98B, a P/E ratio of 16.94, and lost 8.46% since the end of June. Ken Fisher holds over $600 million in ORCL.
Blackrock Inc (BLK): BlackRock is an independent investment management firm. Ainslie had $275 million invested in BLK and the stock was purchased by one insider over the past three months. BLK has a market cap of $26.84B, a P/E ratio of 12.22, and lost 20.27% since the end of June. John Paulson had $360 million of BLK shares (see John Paulson’s other losing positions).
Whiting Petroleum Corp (WLL): Whiting Petroleum Corporation is an independent oil and gas company. Ainslie had $230 million invested in WLL and the stock was purchased by four insiders over the past three months. WLL has a market cap of $4.20B, a P/E ratio of 14.83, and lost 34.99% since the end of June. Robert Bishop had $62 million of WLL stocks. Ken Griffin also invested $41 million in WLL.
Life Technologies Corp (LIFE): Life Technologies is a global life sciences company. Ainslie had $154 million invested in LIFE and the stock was purchased by four insiders over the past three months. LIFE has a market cap of $6.64B, a P/E ratio of 18.92, and lost 24.37% since the end of June. Larry Robbins invested $665 million in LIFE shares. John Paulson also had nearly $400 million LIFE stocks.
HCA Holdings Inc (HCA): HCA is a non-governmental hospital operator in the United States and an integrated provider of health care and related services. Ainslie had $151 million invested in HCA and the stock was purchased by one insider over the past three months. HCA has a market cap of $9.56B and lost 44.64% since the end of June.
Owens Corning (OC): Owens Corning is a producer of glass fiber reinforcements and other materials for composites and of residential and commercial building materials. Ainslie had $141 million invested in OC and the stock was purchased by two insiders over the past three months. OC has a market cap of $2.76B, a P/E ratio of 58.24, and lost 36.81% since the end of June. Ken Griffin had $62 million invested in OC stocks.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
