Ole Andreas Halvorsen (Borge, Norway, 1961) has become one of the most influential investors. His hedge fund In 2023, it managed to be the third with the highest absolute returns in the world. Due to his low profile, he is largely unknown to the general public, but his manager manages a volume of assets worth 46,000 million dollars (42,750 million euros) and he has amassed a fortune of almost 6,000 million dollars (5,500 million of euros).
The name of the firm he created in 1999 is a statement of intent: Vikings Global Investors. Like the company symbol: a Nordic type boat longship, ready to conquer all financial markets. Halvorsen's training does not go unnoticed either: after finishing his secondary studies he entered the Norwegian Naval Academy and joined the Army's special operations corps, the Marinejeger Kommandoen, equivalent to the US Navy Seals.
In the mid-80s he left the Army and began his higher education in North America. First at Williams College in Massachusetts and then at the business school at Stanford University, one of the most prestigious in the world. There he was recognized as one of the three best students in his class. After completing his university education, he began his meteoric financial career. A few years at Morgan Stanley, a management position at Tiger Management until in 1999 he decided to start flying independently.
Today, Viking Global Investors is one of the most recognized investment firms. He has a business that invests in the Stock Market, and that accumulates assets worth 29,000 million dollars. Another part of its activity is dedicated to private assets. Little by little, it has been climbing to rub shoulders with the largest hedge fund companies (hedge fundsin the jargon), those vehicles that can invest without any type of restrictions by type of asset, coverage or leverage.
Last year, the firm achieved an aggregate return of $6 billion for its investors, according to data from the firm LCH Investments. Only surpassed by the giants Citadel and TCI. The boost came mainly from its positions in technology giants such as Amazon, the card company Visa and the financial management software provider Workday. He longship Viking has known how to surf the bullish wave of the US stock market. A year ago, Halvorsen sent a letter to his hedge fund investors: “we are entering a very favorable environment for stock selection, with a wide spectrum of opportunities to generate more returns than the market.”
But it does not always work with bullish positions. Although this is its main vehicle, Viking Global also has formulas that allowed it to take short positions against stocks in years of sharp stock market declines, such as 2020 or 2022.
In addition to its equity positioning, Viking Global Investors has a private assets division, which invests in companies that are not yet publicly traded. There are 15 billion dollars allocated to firms highly focused on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector (Day One Biopharmaceuticals; Ayana Bio, Pep Gen or RazeBio…); in computer security (Artic Wolf); or in sustainable materials (Ecovative).
The most successful 'tiger cub'
After working in the investment banking department at Morgan Stanley, Halvorsen began working in the world of hedge funds, in one of the most prestigious firms: Tiger Management. The entity was founded by Julian Robertson in 1980 and It closed just two decades later.
The entity was a pool of investors who decided to embark on their own path and create their own firms. They are all known as the 'tiger cubs' and Robertson himself has participated as an investor in many of these projects. Among them, the most successful has been Harvesen, but Bill Hwang, who rose to fame due to the scandal of his Archegos Capital Management fund, also visited there; Lee Ainslie, of Maverick Capital or Dwight W. Anderson, Ospraie Management.
This clan is so popular that specialized newspapers make a ranking of which tiger cubs are obtaining the most profits at any given time.
Unlike other managers hedge funds, like Bill Ackman, Ken Griffin or Carl Icahn, with a great media presence, the Viking Andrea Halvorsen has always preferred to remain in the shadows. She hasn't given any interviews for years and barely attends international conferences. Furthermore, access to his funds is very limited. Last year was an exception, and allowed new investors to enter for the first time in 10 years.
Another facet of Halvorsen is sports. In 2012 he participated, at the age of 50, in the classic Marcialonga ski touring race, in Italy. 70 kilometers over the snow of the Alps. He finished it with a time of 3 hours and 38 minutes, just nine minutes faster than competition star Bjørn Dæhlie, winner of 12 Olympic gold medals. Now, at 61 years old, Halvorsen, the Viking soldier, is still in top shape and aspires to the senior podium hedge funds of the world.
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