In this article, we discuss the 2022 portfolio of Korean-Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son and the 10 stocks to watch. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of Son’s stock picks and hedge fund history, go directly to Korean-Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s 2022 Portfolio: 5 Stocks to Watch.
Masayoshi Son is the CEO, Chairman and founder of Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank. He is the second richest person in Japan with a net worth of approximately $22 billion. The 64 year old studied at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a B.A. in Economics in 1980.
SoftBank is a Tokyo-based holding company which provides a range of investment services, and also operates Japan’s third largest wireless carrier. Masayoshi Son has spearheaded the company’s growth since initially founding it as a software distributor in 1981. He has made a lot of investments over the years, and some of them have been as wrong as only a billionaire could afford, but his most visionary bet was putting $20 million into Chinese company Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in 2000, a stake which stood at around $130 billion in 2018. The Korean-Japanese billionaire has also bought UK semiconductor firm ARM Holdings for £24.3 billion in a 2016 deal.
In 2017, SoftBank founded an investment vehicle called Vision Fund. This was a $100 billion, tech-focused fund with prominent investors including the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and silicon valley giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), among others. The Vision Fund has invested in more than 100 companies, including DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE:DASH), Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), Indian firm Paytm, and Chinese ride-sharing firm DiDi Global Inc. (NYSE:DIDI), whose 2021 US delisting led to huge losses for the fund. SoftBank subsequently launched Vision Fund 2 in 2019, which aimed to invest in companies that would enable advancements in the AI revolution.
But Covid-19, and several misjudged investments, led to the Vision Fund losing its charm for investors. The problem was also exacerbated by the Chinese government’s crackdown against tech companies shaking up many of Son’s investments. Notable stock picks of the fund have performed poorly, such as Korean e-commerce firm Coupang, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPNG) losing 54% in the year to date. SoftBank’s 25% stake in Alibaba.com has seen its market value wiped by out more than two thirds as Chinese regulators tightened their scrutiny of tech giants. In May, the Vision Fund announced that it had incurred net losses of $26.2 billion, as rising interest rates and geopolitical instability made the fund’s high-growth tech stock suffer. Many analysts now question Son’s top investments, give that many of them are not on any clear path towards profitability. The billionaire subsequently conceded:
“When the world is in disorder, SoftBank should play defense”
Masayoshi Son of SB Management
SB Management, is a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank, and manages $515.84 million as of the first quarter of 2022. Its holdings are mostly small-cap stocks, which usually present massive upside potential. The fund’s holdings are concentrated in the finance, healthcare and technology sectors. Its top 10 holdings represent 99.28% of the total portfolio. SB Management did not make any new purchases or increase any stakes in the first quarter of 2022, but sold out of 6 stocks and reduced holdings in 3 stocks. Some of the top stocks to buy in the current climate include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), but in this article we’ll focus on the top 10 holdings of Korean Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s 2022 portfolio.
Our Methodology
Masayoshi Son’s portfolio for the first quarter of 2022 was used to pick his top 10 holdings. Hedge fund sentiment is a useful tool in deciding a particular stock’s popularity with professional money-managers, which can in turn help amateur investors make better, more informed investment decisions. That’s why we have used data from 900+ elite hedge funds in our database to provide hedge fund sentiment around each stock.
Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s 2022 Portfolio: 10 Stocks to Watch
10. SVF Investment Corp. 2 (NASDAQ:SVFB)
SB Management’s Stake Value: $9.84 million
Percentage of SB Management’s 13F Portfolio: 1.9%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24
SVF Investment Corp. 2 (NASDAQ:SVFB) operates as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) affiliated with SoftBank Investment Advisers. It enables technology firms to list publicly through IPOs. It was formed in March 2021 with an initial market cap of $230 million.
Masayoshi Son’s SB Management, according to regulatory filings for the first quarter of 2022, held 1 million shares of SVF Investment Corp. 2 (NASDAQ:SVFB) with a value of $9.84 million. This represented 1.9% of the fund’s total portfolio.
In total, 24 hedge funds held positions in SVF Investment Corp. 2 (NASDAQ:SVFB) at the end of the first quarter, as compared to 27 hedge funds a quarter ago. The largest shareholder of the SPAC company in the first quarter was Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital, which held a $19.3 million stake consisting of 1.96 million shares.
Along with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), SVF Investment Corp. 2 (NASDAQ:SVFB) is an exciting stock to consider.
9. Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB)
SB Management’s Stake Value: $17.16 million
Percentage of SB Management’s 13F Portfolio: 3.32%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21
Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) engages in the development and sale of an integrated platform used for genetic analysis, or to resolve genetically complex problems. Its products include analytical software, single molecule real-time (SMRT) compatible products, and PacBio Systems for the analysis of biochemical sequencing reactions. The California-based company was founded in 2004, and has received various awards and recognitions for its groundbreaking work on gene sequencing, including the Technology Pioneer Award from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2009.
Masayoshi Son’s owned 1.88 million shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) as of the end of the first quarter with a price tag of $17.16 million. This amounted to 3.32% of his total portfolio. The largest shareholder of the firm in the first quarter was Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management, which held a $248 million stake consisting of 27.25 million shares.
As of May 20, Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) has seen its share price drop 73.16% year to date owing to the uncertain macro set-up and investors pulling their money out of risky life sciences stocks. On May 5, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Ross Osborn maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating on Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) shares, and lowered the price target to $19 from $23. The analyst urged investors to benefit from the firm’s attractive valuations and acquire shares, given its “superior” long-read offering, strong cash balance and product pipeline that will significantly expands its total addressable market.
Out of all the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the close of Q4 2021, 21 reported ownership of stakes in Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) with a combined worth of $1.09 billion. This showed a negative trend from the preceding quarter where 27 hedge funds owned $1.34 billion worth of positions in the company.
Investment firm DEVON Equity Management talked about many stocks in its Q2 2021 investor letter, and Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) was one of them. The fund said:
“As a final word on Sequencing – we established a position in Pacific Biosciences (PACB US) during the quarter. Pac Bio are the leader in Long Read Sequencing (Illumina are dominant in Short Read). The Long Read market is far less developed than short read, but our continued research into the genomic sequencing field increased our confidence in the commercial viability for Long Read Sequencing in the coming years. We will discuss the investment case for Pac Bio in more detail in a future letter.”
8. SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NASDAQ:SVFC)
SB Management’s Stake Value: $19.82 million
Percentage of SB Management’s 13F Portfolio: 3.84%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21
SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NASDAQ:SVFC) is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) based in California which offers services related to initial public offerings (IPO), mergers, asset acquisition, and reorganization to businesses. As of May 23, shares of the firm trade at $9.95, giving the firm a market cap of $408.4 million.
According to 13F filings for the first quarter of 2022, Masayoshi Son’s SB Management owned 2 million shares of SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NASDAQ:SVFC) with a price tag of $19.82 million which represented 3.84% of its total portfolio, and made it the firm’s largest shareholder.
Of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 28 reported ownership of stakes in SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NASDAQ:SVFC) in the first quarter, the same number of hedge funds as the quarter before.
7. SVF Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SVFA)
SB Management’s Stake Value: $21.80 million
Percentage of SB Management’s 13F Portfolio: 4.22%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 50
SB Management of billionaire Masayoshi Son owned 2.2 million shares of SVF Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SVFA) as of the end of the first quarter, valued at $21.8 million and amounting to 4.22% of his total holdings. Marshall Wace LLP was the most prominent shareholder of SVF Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SVFA) in the first quarter, with a position consisting of 2.72 million shares worth $26.7 million.
SVF Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SVFA) acts as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) affiliated with SoftBank Investment Advisers. 50 hedge funds from the extensive database of Insider Monkey reported bullish bets on SVF Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SVFA) in the first quarter, as compared to 48 in the previous quarter.
6. Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR)
SB Management’s Stake Value: $22.87 million
Percentage of SB Management’s 13F Portfolio: 4.43%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38
Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) is a health intelligence company which uses data-driven platform-insights to develop next-generation diagnostics for the advancement of healthcare. Its platforms utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to derive population health insights, and provide AI-powered disease models.
Korean-Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son reported owning 7.45 million shares of Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) in the first quarter, amounting to a $22.87 million value. This was a decrease of 18% in holding over the previous quarter, where Son owned 9.02 million shares of the firm. Deerfield Management held a $42.5 million stake in Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) consisting of 13.84 million shares, making it the firm’s largest shareholder in the first quarter of 2022.
Cowen analyst Max Masucci on May 16 maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) shares and lowered the price target to $5 from $13.
In early May, Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) announced the acquisition of genetic testing company GeneDx from OPKO Health (OPK) in a deal worth approximately $472 million, including potential milestones.
Investors were seen loading up on Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) stock. Out of all the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 38 owned positions in Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) with a value of $257.3 million. This is up from 34 hedge funds in the previous quarter holding aggregate stakes worth $483.7 million in the company.
Just like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR) is on the radar of institutional investors.
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