As we continue to track 13F filings, we came across Realm Partners’. This hedge fund, managed by Robert Millard (who had previously held senior positions at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Bank) since 2009, disclosed an equity portfolio with a market value of approximately $239 million, as of June 30 2014. Its second quarter equity portfolio was mainly divided between four sectors: consumer staples stocks (31%), consumer discretionary stocks (24%), utilities and telecommunications (20%), and healthcare stocks (18%). In this article we will take a look at his top 3 stock picks in order to elucidate if any of them deserve further research.
Despite a 37% reduction in Realm Partners’ position, TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU) stands as the fund’s largest long equity position. Mr. Millard’s fund disclosed ownership of 422,400 shares of TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU), worth approximately $12.2 million. This stake accounts for more than 5% of the fund’s equity portfolio’s total market value.
The stock gained 12.35% over the second quarter of 2014, reaching a 52-week high of $30.52 per share in late-June. This could have certainly motivated Realm Partners to sell some of its stock, reaping a considerable profit from it.
Other hedge funds with big stakes in TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU) are James Dinan’s York Capital Management and Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management. The first one started a position – with 5.26 million shares- in the company in the first quarter of 2014; the second one, doubled its stake between January and March, and last disclosed ownership of 2.72 million shares.
Another company amongst Mr. Millard’s top picks is TW Telecom Inc. (NASDAQ:TWTC), a $5.33 billion market cap managed network services provider that specializes in Ethernet and data networking, Internet access, local and long distance voice, VPN, VoIP and network security services. The company saw Realm Partners boost its exposure by 22$ over the second quarter, to 261,561 shares. The fund’s stake in TW Telecom Inc. (NASDAQ:TWTC) is worth more than $10 million, and accounts for roughly 4.4% of its total equity portfolio.
Another major fund placing big bets on TW Telecom Inc. (NASDAQ:TWTC) is Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management, which declared, in early-July, a substantial increase in its participation in the company. The fund now owns 15.2 million shares of the company, up from the 10.8 million it held by the end of the first quarter.
Third in this list is a newcomer: Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT), a $9.84 billion market cap facilities-based provider of a broad range of integrated communications services. Over the quarter, Real Partners acquired 239,200 shares of Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT), which have a market value of more than $10 million –which account for roughly 4.4% of the fund’s total equity portfolio.
Once again, Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management can be counted amongst the company’s hedge fund bulls. As of March 31 2014, the fund declared ownership of 48.83 million shares of Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT). Other big names betting on this company are D. E. Shaw and Jim Simons, who last disclosed ownership of 2.5 million shares, and 1.1 million shares, respectively.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned.
