Light Street Capital Management is a Palo Alto-based hedge fund, which mainly invests in public companies from the technology and media sectors. It was founded back in 2010 by Glen Kacher, who previously worked at Integral Capital Partners as a managing director, where he was in charge of both public and private investments in the internet, computer services, information security, software, and technology markets. Prior to joining Integral Capital Partners, Glen Kacher was employed at Tiger Management, first as a research analyst and then as a consultant. There, he broadened his investment philosophy working on investments in the hardware, software and networking industries. He holds a BS in Commerce with Distinction from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
At the Sohn Conference in April, Glen Kacher presented Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) as his best idea at the moment. Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) is a multinational cybersecurity company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company’s leading product is a platform that offers professional firewalls and cloud-based extensions, trying to cover various security aspects. Glen Kacher was bullish on Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) not only because of its very good performance, but also because he thinks that the time has come when there is a growing need for this type of company. Cybercrime is spreading, because there are countries that need money, like North Korea, which is treating cyberhackers like they are Olympians, which presents a real problem for the countries that are their targets. But, of course, North Korea is not the only country with cyberhackers and that’s why Glen Kacher finds this the perfect moment for the prosperity of cybersecurity companies, and he is of the opinion that Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) is one of the best among them. You can check the video below to find more details on Glen Kacher’s best stock pick in April.
Light Street’s Glen Kacher on his best idea at Sohn from CNBC.
At the more recent Sohn Conference, at the end of October, Glen Kacher presented his new number one stock pick, and it’s an e-commerce company that sells luxury fashion products, called Farfetch Limited (NYSE:FTCH). The company is headquartered in London, but has branches in North America, Japan, China, and South America. Glen Kacher holds the opinion that Farfetch Limited (NYSE:FTCH), which offers a unique business that uses the marketplace model, partnering with various brands and boutiques globally, will thrive in its niche market and that it will bring serious revenue and earnings. He doesn’t think that Amazon poses an important threat to it. More details about Glen Kacher’s newest presentation at the Sohn Conference can be seen in this video.
Light Street Capital’s Glen Kacher on the industry he considers ‘Amazon’s kryptonite’ from CNBC.
Glen Kacher’s Light Street Capital has had some seriously good returns throughout the years, and it was one of the best performing large hedge funds in our database during the second quarter. Since its inception (2010) through December 2017, the fund has delivered annualized net returns of 19.8%. In 2017, it brought back an impressive 38.6%. In 2018 YTD (October) the fund is up by an amazing 53%.
However, as the Nasdaq 100 Index lost 8.7% percent in October, it has taken down technology stocks with it, which consequently affected hedge funds, especially those who mostly bet on tech companies. Hence, the fund’s Light Street Mercury Master fund lost 9.2% in October, while still managing to post a 10% gain on a YTD basis (through October). According to its plain brochure, as of December 31, 2016, Light Street had total discretionary assets under management of around $772.53 million.
We’ve uncovered a reliable way to consistently beat the market by using these 13F filings and investing in only the top consensus picks of the 100 best performing hedge funds each quarter. Insider Monkey’s flagship “Best Performing Hedge Funds Strategy” has returned 78.4% since its 2014 inception (through December 3), beating the market by over 18 percentage points. Check out a detailed analysis of Insider Monkey’s performance and past quarterly stock picks for all the details. Our newest picks were released last month; don’t miss out!
On the next page you can read about the most important changes to the fund’s equity portfolio during the third quarter.
