Mark McMeans’ Brasada Capital Management is a Houston-based long/short equity hedge fund founded in 2008. The fund takes a conservative approach to its investments, including using hedging and risk management strategies to achieve its desired risk-adjusted returns. The fund’s assets under management more than doubled between early-2017 and early-2018, and topped $542 million in the middle of 2020.
The surge in AUM is somewhat surprising given the Brasada Long-Short Equity Fund’s lukewarm returns. 2019 was one of the fund’s better years, as returns hit 12.99%. The preceding four years were a lost cause, with losses in 2018 and 2015 slightly outpacing the single-digit gains posted in 2016 and 2017. Overall, the fund’s compound annual return was 1.92% through the first quarter of 2020.
Let’s check out some of the biggest moves made by Brasada Capital Management in Q2, which included taking much bigger stakes in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Mark McMeans of Brasada Capital
Stocks Bought by Brasada Capital in Q2
Danaher Corporation
Hedge funds have never been more bullish on Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR), with ownership of the stock rising by over 50% in the last 18 months among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey. Brasada made a much bigger commitment to the stock during Q2, more than tripling the amount of DHR shares it owns. Danaher shares are having an impressive 2020, gaining over 50% for the second-straight year on the strength of strong results like double-digit revenue growth in Q3.
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Apple
Brasada Capital also added to its Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) position, hiking it by 43% to nearly 15,000 shares. Apple is now several years removed from being hedge funds’ favorite stock, though it did rank among the 11 Stocks Hedge Funds Are Crazy About in 2020 Q2 and ownership of the tech giant has risen by over 20% in the last year among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey. Preorders for Apple’s iPhone 12 have been very strong despite the line’s aggressive pricing, more than doubling what the iPhone 11 models generated. With Apple’s shares up by over 50% in 2020, it will need to deliver stellar results like that for the stock to avoid a holiday slump.
Prologis
Brasada Capital more than doubled the size of its Prologis Inc (NYSE:PLD) position in Q2, taking a much bigger stake in the industrial REIT and supply chain logistics company, which manages the flow of more than $2 trillion in goods annually. Brasada Capital isn’t the only hedge fund to have a growing interest in PLD, as ownership of the stock among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey has jumped by 40% over the past year, during which time Prologis has continued to boost income at a strong rate while maintaining a rock-solid balance sheet.
Amazon
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was another tech giant that Brasada Capital bought more shares of during Q2, boosting the size of its Amazon holding by 82%. Amazon is far and away the most popular stock among hedge funds, with 30.1% of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey being Amazon shareholders. Amazon’s annual Prime Day event, which was pushed back from July until October this year due to the pandemic, shattered sales records, pulling in $3.5 billion during the two-day event, a 60% year-over-year increase (see 25 best things to buy on Amazon under $20).
WEC Energy
Brasada Capital opened a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the second quarter, one of many funds to buy into the stock in 2020, as ownership of it doubled during the first-half of the year among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey’s database. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management and Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment are among the prominent funds to buy WEC this year. Shares of WEC have trended upward throughout the second-half of the year, gaining over 16%. WEC Energy took an 85% stake in the under construction Tatanka Ridge Wind Farm earlier this year and is well positioned for similar future acquisitions.
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Video: Top 5 Stocks Among Hedge Funds
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
