Roberto Mignone's Bridger Management Adds Financials, Exits 'Hedge Fund Favorite' Names: 13F Filing

(This post is part of our series on tracking hedge fund portfolios. If you're unfamiliar with tracking investments they disclose via SEC filings, check out our series preface on hedge fund filings.)

Next up is Roberto Mignone's hedge fund Bridger Management. Bridger focuses on long/short equity and event driven strategies (which you'll see evidence of in their portfolio below). Last we heard, Bridger has just under $3 billion in assets under management and is closed to new investors because Mignone likes to focus on investing rather than running a large organization. Not to mention, he argues that once you garner too large of an AUM pool, you can't have a short portfolio of complementary size. After all, Mignone is known for his sleuthing abilities on the short side. Previously, we had detailed some of his investment thoughts for 2010 from a hedge fund panel.

Before founding Bridger, Mignone co-founded Blue Ridge Capital with John Griffin in 1996, another hedge fund we track here on the site. And before that, both Mignone and Griffin worked at Julian Robertson's legendary Tiger Management. As such, they are both 'Tiger Cub' hedge funds. Mignone received his degree from Harvard and his MBA from Harvard Business School. In terms of recent portfolio activity disclosed after the date of the filing's we're covering, Bridger revealed two new positions.

The positions listed below were Bridger's long equity, note, and options holdings as of March 31st, 2010 as filed with the SEC. All holdings are common stock unless otherwise denoted:


Brand New Positions
Centene (CNC) ~ we detailed the specifics of this stake when they first disclosed it
Genpact (G)
Waters (WAT)
Iesi-Bfc (BIN)
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
Goldman Sachs (GS)
Marriott (MAR)
Red Hat (RHT)
XTO Energy (XTO)
Comerica (CMA)
AMR (AMR)
Fuel Systems (FSYS)
Istar Financial (SFI)
Medifast (MED) ~ we detailed the specifics of this new position earlier
Marshall & Ilsley (MI)
Key Corp (KEY)
Suntrust Bank (STI)
Xenoport (XNPT)
Cathay Gen Bancorp (CATY)
Wonder Auto Tech (WATG)
Popular (BPOP)
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY)
Carefusion (CFN)
Macquarie (MIC)
Iberiabank (IBKC)
Nektar Therapeut (NKTR)
Acorda (ACOR)
Immunogen (IMGN)
Glacier Bancorp (GBCI)
Amedisys (AMED) Puts


Increased Positions
Morgan Stanley (MS): Increased position size by 150%
Electronic Arts (ERTS): Increased by 73.8%
Regions Financial (RF): Increased position by 72.7%
Casella Waste Systems (CWST): Increased position by 48.6%
Davita (DVA): Increased position by 33%
State Street (STT): Increased position by 32.9%
Exxon Mobil (XOM): Increased position by 30.8%
Boston Scientific (BSX): Increased position by 26.6%
Synovus Financial (SNV): Increased position by 20.5%
Waste Connections (WCN): Increased position by 19.3%


Reduced Positions
Aetna (AET): Reduced by 70%
Life Tech (LIFE): Reduced by 67.8%
Millipore (MIL): Reduced by 42%
Eclipsys (ECLP): Reduced by 39.6%
OSI Pharmaceuticals (ONXX): Reduced by 33.6%
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ): Reduced by 28.1%
Biogen Idec (BIIB): Reduced by 17.6%


Positions They Sold Out of Completely
Royal Carribean (RCL)
Apple (AAPL)
First American (FAF)
Microsoft (MSFT)
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR)
Amerigroup (AGP)
Allergan (AGN)
Republic Service (RSG)
Warner Chilcott (WCRX)
Expedia (EXPE)
United Therapeutics (UTHR)
Talecris Biotherapeutics (TLCR)
Ritchie Bros (RBA)
Mannkind (MNKD)
Mako Surgical (MAKO)
Petmed (PETS)
Ehealth (EHTH)
Given Imaging (GIVN)
Sanderson Farms (SAFM)
CIT Group (CIT)
Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) Puts


Top 15 Holdings (by percentage of assets reported on 13F filing)

1. Waste Connections (WCN): 3.4%
2. Pall (PLL): 3.3%
3. Covidien (COV): 3.1%
4. Cardinal Health (CAH): 3%
5. Medtronic (MDT): 3%
6. Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS): 3%
7. Centene (CNC): 2.9%
8. Morgan Stanley (MS): 2.9%
9. Amgen (AMGN): 2.8%
10. Unitedhealthcare (UNH): 2.4%
11. Millipore (MIL): 2.4%
12. Las Vegas Sands (LVS): 2.3%
13. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): 2.3%
14. Hyatt Hotels (H): 2.3%
15. Genpact (G): 2.2%

In the first quarter, we saw Bridger completely sell out of a few names that are typically hedge fund favorites which was interesting. They exited Apple, Microsoft, CIT Group, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Many of these names are on Goldman Sachs VIP list of the stocks most important to hedge funds. Other positions Bridger also sold sizable partial positions in include Aetna, Life Tech, and Eclipsys.

In terms of additions, we already knew about their new Centene position, but now you see how large it is in the context of their overall portfolio. Not to mention, their new ownership of Genpact (G) is notable too as it's their fifteenth largest US equity long. They also added to exiting position Waste Connections, which is now their largest holding. We also make note of their addition in shares of Electronic Arts. Just yesterday we examined Chase Coleman's hedge fund Tiger Global and saw they were clearly bullish on ERTS.

And while Bridger's large focus is on the health space, you obviously see many financial plays scattered in their portfolio. They were adding to regional banks like Regions and Synovus in the first quarter and added shares of big banking plays as well, like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.

Assets reported on Bridger's 13F filing were $2.5 billion this quarter. Data from the SEC is aggregated and sorted automatically by Alphaclone, our source for hedge fund tracking, replicating, and performance backtesting (Market Folly readers can receive a special free 30 day trial). Remember that these filings are not representative of the hedge fund's entire base of AUM.

This post is part of our daily hedge fund portfolio tracking series. We've already detailed activity from numerous managers so click the links below to be taken to the respective portfolio updates: Seth Klarman's Baupost Group, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, and Bill Ackman's Pershing Square, David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Eddie Lampert's RBS Partners, David Tepper's Appaloosa Management, Mohnish Pabrai's Investment Fund, John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Capital Management, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, Dan Loeb's Third Point, John Paulson's hedge fund Paulson & Co, and Chase Coleman's Tiger Global. Be sure to check back daily for new hedge fund updates.

Roberto Mignone's Bridger Management Bullish On Healthcare: 13F Filing

(This post is part of our series on tracking hedge fund portfolios. If you're unfamiliar with tracking investments they disclose via SEC filings, check out our series preface on hedge fund 13F filings.)

Next up is Roberto Mignone's hedge fund Bridger Management. They focus on both long/short and event driven strategies which you'll see evidence of in their portfolio below. Bridger has $2.8 billion in assets under management and is closed to new investors. Mignone likes to focus on investing rather than running a large organization. Not to mention, he argues that once you get 'too big' in AUM, you can't have a complementary short portfolio of necessary size. After all, Mignone is known for his sleuthing abilities on the short side of the book. Previously, we had detailed some of his investment thoughts for 2010 from a hedge fund panel.

Before Bridger, Mignone co-founded Blue Ridge Capital with John Griffin in 1996. And before that, Mignone (like Griffin) worked at Julian Robertson's Tiger Management, joining the ranks of other prominent 'Tiger Cub' hedge funds. Mignone received his degree from Harvard and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

The positions listed below were Bridger's long equity, note, and options holdings as of December 31st, 2009 as filed with the SEC. All holdings are common stock unless otherwise denoted.


Brand New Positions
Medtronic (MDT)
Pfizer (PFE)
Hyatt Hotels (H)
Amerigroup (AGP)
State Street (STT)
Rino (RINO)
Aetna (AET)
Boyd Gaming (BYD)
Teekay (TK)
Synovus Financial (SNV)
China Real Estate Information (CRIC)
Talecris Biotherapeutics (TLCR)
Mannkind (MNKD)
Regions Financial (RF)
The rest of their new positions were each less than 0.25% of reported holdings, so much smaller stakes:
Casella Waste Systems (CWST) ~ a new position we'd already detailed, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) Puts, Crucell (CRXL), Enhealth (EHTH), Given Imaging (GIVN) & Sanderson Farms (SAFM)


Increased Positions
Cardinal Health (CAH): Increased by 150%
Warner Chilcott (WCRX): Increased by 120%
Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Increased by 111.5%
Amgen (AMGN): Increased by 109.7%
Pall (PLL): Increased by 92.3%
Electronic Arts (ERTS): Increased by 75%
Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX): Increased by 66.4%
Cardiome Pharma (CRME): Increased by 51.9%
OSI Pharma (OSIP): Increased by 48.8%
Waste Connections (WCN): Increased by 41.7%
Gilead Sciences (GILD): Increased by 40%
Ebay (EBAY): Increased by 31.1%
Unitedhealth (UNH): Increased by 28.9%
Royal Carribean (RCL): Increased by 18.9%


Reduced Positions
Davita (DVA): Reduced by 84.6%
Expedia (EXPE): Reduced by 78.2%
Ritchie Bros (RBA): Reduced by 70.3%
Eclipsys (ECLP): Reduced by 58.8%
Allergan (AGN): Reduced by 14%


Removed Positions (Sold out completely):
Ameriprise Financial (AMP)
Wyeth (WYE)
International Game Technology (IGT)
Invesco (IVZ) Copart (CPRT)
Continental Airlines (CAL)
Watson Pharma (WPI)
MGM Mirage (MGM)
Schering Plough (SGP)
Cablevision (CVC)
Monsanto (MON)
Allegiant Travel (ALGT)
Cigna (CI)
Schering Plough (SGP-PB)
Amylin Pharma (AMLN) Calls
Airtran Holdings (AAI)
Illumina (ILMN)
American Express (AXP)
Brunswick (BC)
Trimeris (TRMS)


Top 15 Holdings by percentage of assets reported on 13F filing

1. Covidien (COV): 3.76%
   
2. Medtronic (MDT): 3.41%
   
3. Amgen (AMGN): 3.35%
   
4. Pall Corp (PLL): 3.30%
   
5. Millipore (MIL): 3.30%
   
6. Waste Connections (WCN): 3.21%
   
7. Cardinal Health (CAH): 3.03%
   
8. Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS): 2.77%
   
9. Unitedhealth (UNH): 2.32%
   
10. Carmax (KMX): 2.21%
    
11. Pfizer (PFE): 2.2%
    
12. Royal Caribbean (RCL): 2.18%
    
13. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): 2.17%
    
14. Apple (AAPL): 2.16%
    
15. First American (FAF): 2.11%
    

Hedge fund Bridger Management doesn't have any overwhelmingly massive positions as you can see. Overall, they boosted exposure to healthcare and reduced exposure to services and technology. This falls in line with Goldman Sachs' research that showed hedge funds reducing tech holdings. Mignone likes health plays as he says there is a huge margin of safety.

Mignone's hedge fund started a massive new stake in Medtronic (MDT) as it is their 2nd largest US equity long now. They also bought a new position in Pfizer (PFE), something we've seen many hedge funds do as of late. In terms of positions they already owned but added to, Bridger doubled down on their Amgen stake and almost doubled their position in Pall too. Both those positions are in their top five reported holdings as well. We also want to highlight that Bridger could be set for a big payday on shares of Millipore (MIL). The company has been exploring strategic takeover maneuvers and there were rumors they had received a bid from Thermo Fisher Scientific that sent shares soaring earlier this week. Hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital also has a sizable MIL stake.

The event driven portion of their portfolio is evident in their 'sales' of Wyeth and Schering Plough. They no longer show those positions because they completed their respective mergers. While they didn't do much selling with their core holdings, they did completely sell out of previously sizable positions in Ameriprise Financial, International Game Technology and Invesco. That wraps up all the major moves. For investment insight from Bridger's manager Roberto Mignone, check out his thoughts at a recent hedge fund panel.

Data used for this article comes from Alphaclone, our source for backtesting strategies and sorting through all the hedge fund portfolio maneuvers with ease. Assets reported on the 13F filing were $2.19 billion this quarter compared to $2.10 billion last quarter. Remember that these filings are not representative of the hedge fund's entire base of AUM.

We'll be tracking 40+ prominent funds in our fourth quarter 2009 hedge fund portfolio tracking series. We've already covered Seth Klarman's Baupost Group, Mohnish Pabrai's Investment Fund, Carl Icahn's hedge fund Icahn Partners, David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital, David Tepper's Appaloosa Management, Warren Buffett's portfolio, John Paulson's hedge fund Paulson & Co, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Dan Loeb's Third Point, Eddie Lampert's RBS Partners, David Ott's Viking Global, and Chris Shumway's hedge fund Shumway Capital Partners, Chase Coleman's Tiger Global, and Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners. Check back daily for our new updates.