Touradji Capital Management (Paul Touradji) 13F Filing Q4 2008

This is the 4th Quarter 2008 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings preface.

Next up is Touradji Capital ran by Paul Touradji. Touradji is one of many well-known 'Tiger Cubs' who started their own firms after leaving Julian Robertson's Tiger Management. We've already covered many of the 'Tiger Cub' funds including Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Chase Coleman's Tiger Global, Chris Shumway's Shumway Capital Partners, and John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital. Taken from our post on 'Tiger Cub' biographies, "Paul Touradji is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Touradji Capital Management LP, a New York-based hedge fund specializing in fundamental research and active investment in commodities and related assets. The firm manages approximately $3.5 billion and invests in both the public and private markets. Mr. Touradji has well over a decade of experience investing in the commodity, equity, and macro markets. Mr. Touradji began his commodities career at Tiger Management in the mid '90s, where he managed the commodities team; it was at Tiger that he developed his fundamental approach to analysis and investment in commodities. Prior to Tiger, Mr. Touradji’s specialty was quantitative arbitrage, principally with O’Connor Partners. Mr. Touradji is a 1993 graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and a Certified Financial Analyst."

Towards the end of last year at a 'Tiger Cub' hedge fund manager panel, Touradji advocated shorting Copper as the world deleverages and the velocity of money drops, and that thesis played out just as predicted. It would be interesting to get his updated take on copper now that it has rallied back a little bit. We just recently noticed that Touradji was one of the Top 25 highest paid hedge fund managers in 2008, coming in at number 16. Also, back in January we mentioned that Touradji was starting an additional fund. Please note that Touradji specializes in commodities and those holdings are not reported in 13F filings. But, he still has some equity positions and we check in on those each quarter. We keep tabs on him for his Tiger background, his solid overall performance, and to see if he is playing any investment themes. But, we want to make sure everyone realizes that he is different than the typical hedge funds we cover and he has limited equity exposure.

The following were their long equity, note, and options holdings as of December 31st, 2008 as filed with the SEC. We have not detailed the changes to every single position in this update, but we have covered all the major moves. All holdings are common stock unless otherwise denoted.


Some New Positions (Brand new positions that they initiated in the last quarter):
General Electric (GE)
Jacobs Engineering (JEC)
Gushan (GU)


Some Increased Positions (A few positions they already owned but added shares to)
Sandridge Energy (SD): Increased by 291%


Some Reduced Positions (Some positions they sold some shares of - note not all sales listed)
Encore Acquisition (EAC): Reduced position by 50%
Chesapeake (CHK): Reduced position by 48.8%
McDermott (MDR): Reduced position by 39.7%
Whiting Petroleum (WLL): Reduced position by 30%
Delta Petroleum (DPTR): Reduced position by 27.5%
Baker Hughes (BHI): Reduced position by 5.4%


Removed Positions (Positions they sold out of completely)
Spdr S&P500 (SPY)
Hornbeck Offshore (HOS)
Cano Petroleum (CFW)
Frontier Oil (FTO)
Tesoro (TSO)
BMB Munai (KAZ)
Storm Cat (SCU)
Mosaic (MOS)
Continental Resources (CLR)
Steel Dynamics (STLD)
Nucor (NUE)
Devon Energy (DVN)
Terra Industries (TRA)
XTO Energy (XTO)
Transocean (RIG)
Select Sector Energy (XLE)
Hess (HES)


Top 15 Holdings (by % of portfolio)

1. General Electric (GE): 51.5% of portfolio
2. Petrohawk (HK): 12.64% of portfolio
3. Baker Hughes (BHI): 5.8% of portfolio
4. Jacobs Engineering (JEC): 5.73% of portfolio
5. Comstock Resources (CRK): 3.68% of portfolio
6. Sandridge Energy (SD): 3.6% of portfolio
7. Delta Petroleum (DPTR): 2.56% of portfolio
8. Range Resources (RRC): 1.5% of portfolio
9. McDermott (MDR): 1.2% of portfolio
10. Chesapeake Energy (CHK): 1.2% of portfolio
11. Apache (APA): 1.1% of portfolio
12. Anadarko Petroleum (APC): 1.1% of portfolio
13. Talisman Energy (TLM): 1% of portfolio
14. Noble Energy (NBL): 1% of portfolio
15. CVR Energy (CVI): 0.93% of portfolio

As we mentioned above, please again note that Touradji has very limited equity exposure and is primarily in commodities and other markets. We track him to monitor any themes he may be playing and from his holdings it looks like he likes natural gas a little bit via Petrohawk and Chesapeake. They also boosted their stake in Sandridge pretty substantially. But, by far the most notable move in their portfolio was the addition of General Electric. They started it as a new position and brought it up to over 50% of their portfolio, which is a very peculiar thing to see (even for a fund that isn't usually in equities). We'll have to see if this was merely a trade or something more. It's very rare to see funds with such a large concentration of their assets in one equity like this. Assets from the collective long US equity, options, and note holdings were $150 million last quarter and were $146 million this quarter. Again, note that that this $146 million is only one small fraction of his overall assets under management. Lastly, we wanted to point out that Touradji recently sent out an investor letter regarding the illiquid portion of their portfolio. This is just one of many funds in our hedge fund portfolio tracking series in which we're tracking 35+ prominent funds.

We've already covered:

• Well known gurus such as: Carl Icahn, Warren Buffett, & George Soros
• 'Tiger Cub' portfolios: Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Chase Coleman's Tiger Global, Chris Shumway's Shumway Capital Partners, and John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital
• Global macro giants: Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates, Louis Bacon's Moore Capital Management, Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital, & Paul Tudor Jones' Tudor Investment Corp
  
• Value & Activist players like: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square, Seth Klarman's Baupost Group, Art Samberg's Pequot Capital, & David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital
• Concentrated portfolios like: Bret Barakett's Tremblant Capital, & Timothy Barakett's Atticus Capital
• Some solid names: Paulson & Co (John Paulson), Thomas Steyer's Farallon Capital Management, and Eric Mindich's Eton Park Capital
• Newer funds on the scene: James Pallotta's Raptor Capital Management, Anand Parekh's Alyeska Investment Group, & David Stemerman's Conatus Capital
• Troubled funds: Jeffrey Gendell's Tontine Associates

We cover a new hedge fund each day and you can see the complete list of hedge fund portfolios here.

Touradji Capital to Start New Fund

'Tiger Cub' Paul Touradji and his Touradji Capital are set to launch another fund. Their flagship Global Resources fund was up 10% for the year through November and the firm currently manages $3.5 billion. Recently, at a 'Tiger Cub' hedge fund manager panel, Touradji advocated shorting Copper as the world deleverages and the velocity of money drops. We have detailed the changes in Touradji's portfolio holdings here.

Touradji Capital (Paul Touradji) Hedge Fund Tracking: 13F Filing Q3 2008

This is the 3rd Quarter 2008 edition of our ongoing hedge fund tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the preface to the series we're doing on Hedge Fund 13F's here.


Next up is Touradji Capital ran by Paul Touradji. Touradji is one of many well-known 'Tiger Cubs' who started their own firms after leaving Julian Robertson's Tiger Management. We've already covered many of the 'Tiger Cub' funds including Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital, Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital, John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, and Chris Shumway's Shumway Capital Partners. Taken from our post on 'Tiger Cub' biographies, "Paul Touradji is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Touradji Capital Management LP, a New York-based hedge fund specializing in fundamental research and active investment in commodities and related assets. The firm manages approximately $3.5 billion and invests in both the public and private markets. Mr. Touradji has well over a decade of experience investing in the commodity, equity, and macro markets. Mr. Touradji began his commodities career at Tiger Management in the mid '90s, where he managed the commodities team; it was at Tiger that he developed his fundamental approach to analysis and investment in commodities. Prior to Tiger, Mr. Touradji’s specialty was quantitative arbitrage, principally with O’Connor Partners. Mr. Touradji is a 1993 graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and a Certified Financial Analyst." Recently, at a 'Tiger Cub' hedge fund manager panel, Touradji advocated shorting Copper as the world deleverages and the velocity of money drops.

The following were their long equity, note, and options holdings as of September 30th, 2008 as filed with the SEC. All holdings are common stock unless otherwise denoted.


Some New Positions (Brand new positions that they initiated in the last quarter):
Hess (HES)
McDermott (MDR)
Transocean (RIG)
Whiting Petroleum (WLL)
XTO Energy (XTO)
Range Resources (RRC)
Terra Industries (TRA)
Apache (APA)
Talisman Energy (TLM)
Anadarko Petroleum (APC)
Encana (ECA)
Nucor (NUE)
Noble Energy (NBL)
Nexen (NXY)
Steel Dynamics (STLD)
Continental Resources (CLR)
FMC Tech (FTI)
Tesoro (TSO)
Frontier Oil (FTO)
S&P 500 (SPY)


Some Increased Positions (A few positions they already owned but added shares to)
Baker Hughes (BHI): Increased position by 504%
Delta Petroleum (DPTR): Increased position by 38%
Chesapeake Energy (CHK): Increased position by 2.3%


Some Reduced Positions (Some positions they sold some shares of - note not all sales listed)
Hornbeck Offshore (HOS): Reduced position by 98%
Oil States Intl (OIS): Reduced position by 94%
Comstock Resources (CRK): Reduced position by 83%
Encore Acquisition (EAC): Reduced position by 74%
BMB Munai (KAZ): Reduced position by 72%
Mosaic (MOS): Reduced position by 66%
Petrohawk Energy (HK): Reduced position by 62%
Cano Petroleum (CFW): Reduced position by 62%
Devon Energy (DVN): Reduced position by 52%
CVR Energy (CVI): Reduced position by 49%
Sandridge Energy (SD): Reduced position by 38.5%
Storm Cat Energy (SCU): Reduced position by 30%


Removed Positions (Positions they sold out of completely)
Alpha Natural Resources (ANR)
BP (BP)
Gasco (GSX)
Thompson Creek Metals (TC)
Cano Petroleum (CFW)
National Oilwell Varco (NOV)
McMoran Exploration (MMR)
Helix (HLX)
Select Sector Technology (XLK) Puts
Patriot Coal (PCX)
BJ Service (BJ)
Exco Resources (XCO)
St Mary Land & Exploration (SM)
Helmerich & Payne (HP)
Cabot Oil & Gas (COG)
Nabors (NBR)
GMX Resources (GMXR)
Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI)
US Steel (X)
Hercules Offshore (HERO)
Walter Industries (WLT)
Potash (POT)
UNIT (UNT)
Petroquest (PQ)
Goodrich Petroleum (GDP)


Top 20 Holdings (by % of portfolio)

1. Petrohawk (HK): 19% of portfolio
2. Baker Hughes (BHI): 12% of portfolio
3. Delta Petroleum (DPTR): 10.6%
4. Hess (HES): 5.8% of portfolio
5. McDermott (MDR): 5.4% of portfolio
6. Chesapeake Energy (CHK): 5.2% of portfolio
7. Comstock Resources (CRK): 4.1% of portfolio
8. Transocean (RIG): 3.4% of portfolio
9. Sandridge Energy (SD): 3.1% of portfolio
10. Whiting Petroleum (WLL): 2.9% of portfolio
11. XTO Energy (XTO): 2.2% of portfolio
12. CVR Energy (CVI): 2.1% of portfolio
13. Encore Acquisition (EAC): 2.1% of portfolio
14. Range Resources (RRC): 1.9% of portfolio
15. Terra Industries (TRA): 1.7% of portfolio
16. Devon Energy (DVN): 1.7% of portfolio
17. Apache (APA): 1.6% of portfolio
18. Talisman Energy (TLM): 1.5% of portfolio
19. Anadarko Petroleum (APC): 1.5% of portfolio
20. Hornbeck Offshore (HOS): 1.4% of portfolio

Assets from the collective holdings were $749 million last quarter and were $139 million this quarter. Keep in mind that since Touradji's background is in commodities, the vast majority of his holdings will be in markets other than equities. But, seeing as he has hundreds of millions in equity markets, we think it makes sense to track him to try and pick up on any macro themes. Like many other hedge funds we've seen thus far, Touradji was out decreasing equity exposure across the board last quarter. Please note that we have not detailed changes to every single position in this update, but we have covered all the major moves. Also, keep in mind that these filings only include long equity, notes, and options holdings and do not reflect their cash, short portions, or holdings in other markets (currency, commodities, debt, etc). This is just one of many funds in our hedge fund tracking series in which we're tracking 35+ prominent funds. The other funds we've already covered include:

• Timothy Barakett's Atticus Capital
• Whitney Tilson's T2 Partners
• Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital
• Bill Ackman's Pershing Square
• Bret Barakett's Tremblant Capital
• John Paulson's Paulson & Co
• David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital
• Dan Loeb's Third Point
• Paul Tudor Jones' Tudor Investment Corp
• Louis Bacon's Moore Capital Management
• Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates
• George Soros Soros Fund Management

Overall, its been one of the worst years ever for hedge funds, as we noted in our new November hedge fund performance update. Thus, the recent moves they've made in their portfolios become all the more interesting given the way the market has played out.


More on Touradji:
- 'Tiger Cub' biographies
- Hedge fund manager panel (Tiger Cubs)
- November hedge fund performance numbers
- Julian Robertson's recent buys
- October hedge fund performance numbers
- Hedge Fund Rankings

Hedge Fund Panel: Tiger Management / Tiger Cubs

Buck Woodford, author of ManyPeaks and Portfolio Manager of Teewinot Asset Management recently attended a discussion at the University of Virginia entitled "Investment Strategies in Turbulent Times," which consisted of a panel of five very prominent and successful hedge fund managers. The panel featured many ex-Tiger Management greats, including founder Julian Robertson. Also on board were some of his "Tiger Cubs," Paul Touradji, Chris Shumway, Rick Gerson (Blue Ridge Capital), and John Griffin (Blue Ridge). In the discussion, each was asked to present their best current investment thesis.

Here are their ideas as written by Buck,

"Chris Shumway said that buying stocks that were down huge primarily based mostly on hedge fund liquidations would be a long-term winning strategy. It’s always debatable why a stock is down, but this does make fundamental sense.

Paul Touradji layed out a thesis for shorting copper. He believes that base metals are priced based on the “velocity of money” - a measurement that’s likely to drop as the world generally de-leverages. Fair enough.

Julian - believe it or not - was bullish on a particular derivative bet. He believes the interest rate yield curve will steepen significantly, and discussed “steepener swaps” as his favorite investment right now. While chuckling, Griffin said that when Julian called to tell him about the idea, Julian joked that in his family this Christmas there would be “a steepener in every stocking.” Us finance people are really easily entertained.

Rick Gerson made a good point that United States corporations had really gone down the road of “professional” management — he compared it to outsourcing. Naming a few middle eastern companies that he deemed good investments, Rick made the case that in these frontier markets there are still plenty of “owner/operator” public companies in which the people running the show retain 70-80% ownership. He presumably has some of Blue Ridge’s money allocated to these situations.

John Griffin did not share any specific security that he liked, but ruminated that what he’d really like is the ability to “arbitrage time.” Basically that in a world dominated by short-term thinking, it’s hard to take a stand on a company or stock because even if you’re eventually right, the losses you may sit on during the interim can cause both your investors and employees to get hot & bothered. I hear what he’s saying, but that’s just the fact of life with public/listed company investing. If you don’t want a daily price quote, you’ve just got to get big enough (or partner with other funds) to buy the whole company and take it private. The practice of not marking to market is a different game."

Big thanks to Buck for his coverage of the event. If you are unfamiliar with some of the men mentioned above, or were just wanted more background on them, here are their biographies.

And, if you've missed them, we track numerous "Tiger Cub" hedge fund portfolios on the blog, including John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital here, Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital here, and Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital here. Additionally, we noted that Julian Robertson recently made a media appearance in which he detailed some of his recent purchases.