To many investors, hedge funds are perceived as bloated, outdated investment vehicles of an era lost to time. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open today, this site focuses on the leaders of this club, about 525 funds. It is widely held that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by tracking their best investments, we’ve formulated a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as useful, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, it’s important to analyze the recent info about Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL).
How are hedge funds trading Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital had the largest position in Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL), worth close to $145.8 million, accounting for 2.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $56.7 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management and Anthony Bozza’s Lakewood Capital Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the titans, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Greenlight Capital, managed by David Einhorn, created the biggest position in Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). Greenlight Capital had 145.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates also initiated a $56.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AHL investors: Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, and Anthony Bozza’s Lakewood Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). These stocks are American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT), Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE), ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), Corelogic Inc (NYSE:CLGX), and First American Financial Corp (NYSE:FAF). This group of stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are closest to AHL’s market cap.
