Inside Tiger Management’s Evolution Since Julian Robertson’s Death

Tiger Management is not changing its stripes, but it is hunting in new territory.

The legendary money manager founded by late billionaire Julian Robertson has undergone several iterations in its 45-year history. Now, close to three years after Robertson’s death, it’s firmly in its Tiger 3.0 era.

The New York-based firm, known for decades for investing in long-short equity hedge funds, is expanding its remit to wherever talented investors are landing. That’s taken the firm to bets on co-investments in public and private positions alongside managers already in Tiger’s portfolio as well as long-only funds, private equity offerings, activism firms, and continuation vehicles, according to a person with direct knowledge of the firm’s operations.

This person is not allowed to speak publicly about the firm. Tiger declined to comment.

The change was driven, in part, by Tiger’s focus on talent. Internally, the firm looks for people with “winner DNA” who are naturally competitive and operate with integrity, the individual close to the firm said.

But the shift in the firm’s investment focus is also driven by a change in risk appetite. Tiger 2.0 was one of the industry’s most prolific seeders in long-short hedge funds after Robertson returned capital from outside investors in 2000. Dozens of managers got their start thanks to capital from Tiger.

The manager, which has billions in capital, has shifted to a more traditional, diversified portfolio because it is running the funds for the Robertson family foundation as well as the multi-generational family’s wealth. While Julian Robertson was willing to be more heavily weighted to long-short equity funds when he was managing his wealth, the current team running the book has spread the assets across a more traditional multi-asset mix.

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Talented people and the Tiger Cub network have been a hallmark of the firm. The first iteration of Tiger Management was a long-short hedge fund that amassed about $22 billion in the late 1990s on the back of strong annual returns averaging 31.5%. It hired young analysts who went on to found some of the most notable firms in the industry, including Coatue, Lone Pine, Viking Global, Blue Ridge, Maverick, and more.

The team running the portfolio today has deep Tiger ties. Robertson’s son Alex and onetime Tiger and Tiger Global employee Jon Locker lead the firm. They’re supported on the investing side by former Tiger Global analyst and Circle Road partner Michael Rosenberg, who previously worked with Locker, and former Fidelity International and ICONIQ investor Mark Hu.

Still, Tiger will back young stockpicking funds if the team believes in the people running them. The firm has invested in two young firms of this ilk: Former Engine No. 1 partner Charlie Penner’s Ananym Capital and onetime Cadian Capital partner Gor Ter-Grigoryan’s Sellaronda Global.