(Bloomberg) -- Viking Global Investors’ flagship hedge fund dropped 1.2% last month, faring better than many of its rivals after largely avoiding high-flying artificial-intelligence stocks.
The loss pared gains for the long-short equity fund this year to about 1%, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the returns aren’t public.
Viking co-founder Andreas Halvorsen has taken a contrarian position on AI, generally staying away from big bets on the technology because it views some companies as overvalued.
“Against the current market backdrop, we continue to exercise caution when buying stocks at valuations that, considering our forecast of revenue and earnings, offer little margin of safety,” Halvorsen said in a letter to clients in July.
The hedge fund, which manages about $35 billion, sat out tech rallies in 2020 and 2021 and avoided the double-digit losses that hit rivals. While its caution didn’t entirely protect Viking from October losses, many other firms lost more money in a month rocked by a broad tech selloff and geopolitical upheaval.