Viking's Bet
By Chidem Kurdas | July 1st, 2008
http://www.hedgeworld.com/blog/?p=105

The steep slide in financial stocks was on the whole lucrative for
short sellers. Many hedge funds continue to bet against financials.
But some big funds are playing the contrarian in this tough market,
among them Andreas Halvorsen's $9 billion Viking Global Investors LP.

Viking appears to favor asset managers. It bought into a fellow
hedge fund, the publicly traded Och-Ziff Capital Management. It held
State Street and owns more than 5% of Invesco Ltd.

At first glance, Invesco looks battered. Net income was down the
first quarter. But Viking's analysts are known for insight into
company fundamentals—presumably, that's how they made 40% plus last
year. They must see something really good in Invesco.

Invesco has made interesting acquisitions, among them private equity
and hedge fund business WL Ross & Co. The company is preparing for an
initial public offering of real estate investment trust Invesco
Agency Securities. Assets under management declined from 2008 but the
trend has been upward in recent months.

Financials are one of Viking's specialties. It's going to be
interesting to watch what happens to the contrarian long trades.