In this article, we discuss the top 10 stock picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors. You can skip our detailed analysis of Khan’s history, investment philosophy, and hedge fund performance, and go directly to the Top 5 Stock Picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors.
Imran Khan founded Proem Advisors in 2018 and serves as the chief investment officer at the asset management firm. Khan is extremely focused on technology-driven ideas, innovative investment opportunities, strong returns, and alpha opportunities. His 13F portfolio comprises stocks from information technology, finance, consumer discretionary, and communications sectors, with a top 10 holdings concentration of 74%.
Imran Khan is also the co-founder, controlling owner, and CEO of Verishop, which is an online shopping platform housing several independent clothing and lifestyle brands. Formerly, he was the chief strategy officer at Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP), where he was managing revenue, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, strategy, and human resources. Before that, Khan served at Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) as head of global internet investment banking, from 2011 to 2015. In 2004, Imran Khan joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), where he was the head of global internet equity research, and a top ranked analyst, till 2011. Khan holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver, specializing in Finance and Economics.
Khan’s investment strategy revolves around concentrated long/short equity investments, and he seeks aggressive growth via capital appreciation over a market cycle, while simultaneously working to preserve capital in down markets. Imran Khan’s experience as a research analyst for tech companies, investment banker, operator, and company founder allows him to capitalize on market investment opportunities, and make educated investment decisions.
Currently, Khan’s Proem Advisors manages $127.4 million in managed 13F securities, with the largest holding being MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), which represents 12.71% of Khan’s 13F portfolio.
Photo by Javier Esteban on Unsplash
Why should we pay attention to Imran Khan’s stock picks? Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021, our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the S&P 500 ETF (SPY). Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
Our Methodology
With this context in mind, here are some of the top stock picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors. We used Proem Advisors’ 13F portfolio for the second quarter of 2021 to rank these stocks. The list was compiled according to the value of each holding in the investment portfolio.
The analyst ratings for each company are also discussed to provide readers with some more context about their investment decisions. The hedge fund sentiment around each stock was gauged using the data of 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.
Top Stock Picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors
10. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)
Proem Advisors’ Stake Value: $5,970,000
Percentage of Proem Advisors’ 13F Portfolio: 4.68%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is a Norwegian cruise line brand, founded in 1968. It operates out of Miami, and is the largest cruise line by revenue. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) has an active fleet of 24 ships as of 2021, and some of the famous destinations the cruise ships frequently cover include the Caribbean, Greece and Greek Isles, Bermuda, Italy, New England, and Mexico, among others.
As of the end of June, 42 hedge funds were long Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL).
9. Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU)
Proem Advisors’ Stake Value: $7,164,000
Percentage of Proem Advisors’ 13F Portfolio: 5.62%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31
Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) is a digital brokerage and wealth management platform operating in China, Hong Kong, and the United States, among other international locations. Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) leverages advanced tech to transform the investing experience for clients. The main services at Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) include stock trading and clearing, margin financing, wealth management, market data and information, and interactive social features for Hong Kong, US, China Connect and Singapore stocks.
On October 19, CLSA analyst Ethan Wang initiated coverage of Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) with a Buy rating, setting a price target of $110. Wang predicts that getting a clearing license in the US will boost short-term margins.
Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:FUTU) is a good investment opportunity, just like Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Here is what Tao Value has to say about Futu Holdings Limited in their Q1 2021 investor letter:
“Futu is a new “Opportunistic” position. It is an HK based online brokerage & wealth management platform with deep root in technology. Futu sits in the confluence of 3 strong favorable forces of Meteorology, Topography & Commander, yet was underpriced at the time of our entry. In terms of Meteorology, there is a huge addressable market of Chinese domestic middle to upper classes’ wealth being deployed to overseas assets allocation in the next decade. Additionally, the incumbents being disrupted are extremely weak in their digital transformation. On Topography, Futu’s user-centric product design built an intuitive front end and great user experience, while the digital native development framework built a solid & reliable back end (including a self-developed order routing & execution system for the HK market). This is a rare combination compared to both offline incumbents (who lack flashy front end & UX) & other new online disrupters (who lack solid infrastructure). On Commander factor, founder CEO Li Hua was a Tencent engineer in its early days with deep knowledge in product design and development. Li is said to be a fanatic product manager, to this day still at the front-line, alpha testing any new features. Based on analyses of these factors, I think Futu could compound its revenue at a very high rate with very high certainty and with strong operating leverage, putting our entry price very attractive compared to earning power in 3-5 years. Yet just as we finished building a small position, the price started to take off and more than tripled in a month. When such price action happens, it is obvious that Mr. Market has turned very euphoric to this name. I decided to trim but kept a reasonable position given its growth certainty.”
8. Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)
Proem Advisors’ Stake Value: $7,305,000
Percentage of Proem Advisors’ 13F Portfolio: 5.73%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 85
Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) is a Canadian e-commerce mega company, operating as a multinational platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) further facilitates its digital store owners by offering services like payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools. The company has over 1700,000 listed businesses across 175 countries, as of 2021. Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) is one of the top stock picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors.
Proem Advisors owns 5,000 shares in Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP), worth $7.3 million, representing 5.73% of Khan’s 13F portfolio.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 85 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database reported owning stakes in Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP), worth $13.97 billion.
ClearBridge Investments mentioned Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) in its Q2 2021 investor letter. Here is what they said:
“Shopify (is one of the) companies that have become go-to platforms for small and medium size businesses (SMBs) engaged in e-commerce and social media marketing, rebounded strongly in the quarter after being caught in the selloff among high-multiple growth names since Vaccine Monday. These and the portfolio’s other disruptors had thrived through the first part of the pandemic, leading us to trim positions into strength and reallocate cash into more attractively priced evolving opportunities and steady compounders that had been overly punished by lockdowns and a drop in economic activity.”
7. Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI)
Proem Advisors’ Stake Value: $7,310,000
Percentage of Proem Advisors’ 13F Portfolio: 5.73%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) is a Chinese video sharing website, with the content theme focused on animation, comics, and games. Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) has expanded its content to cater to a larger audience, by streaming videos on demand, including famous documentaries, variety shows, and various original productions. Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) is one of Imran Khan’s top stock picks.
Proem Advisors’ owns stakes worth $7.31 million in Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) as of the end of Q2, which accounts for 5.73% of Khan’s 13F portfolio.
At the end of June, 47 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database reported owning stakes in Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI), down from 53 in Q1.
Morgan Stanley analyst Alex Poon kept an Overweight rating on Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI), with a price target of $100 on October 18. Poon stated that the Q3 revenue was projected to grow 16% quarter-over-quarter, and 64% year-over-year.
Here is what Baillie Gifford has to say about Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) in its Q2 2021 investor letter:
“One of the most important cognitive elements is our recognition that consumer patterns and attitudes are evolving increasingly rapidly and with ever greater amplitude. While the human needs for self-actualisation, esteem and belonging are innate and immutable, they are being expressed in new ways. Tastes are being shaped by social groups who are culturally similar but geographically distant. The lines between the physical and digital-self continue to blur.
To those in the throes of middle age, this can be discombobulating. I profess to unease when my daughter recently earned five pounds stacking logs – only to ‘blow’ this pocket money on a pair of virtual Gucci sneakers for her online Roblox character. But we need to be imaginative about the possible size of the market for virtual luxury in the long term and it’s encouraging to observe that Kering is already on the front foot. It is also amply clear that the experienced Long Term Global Growth investors who predate Generations Y & Z, need the help of colleagues in understanding the mood and aspirations of a new cohort of conscious consumers. In this sense, the multigenerational and multicultural dynamic within the LTGG team (and indeed across the broader Baillie Gifford investment floor), has never seemed more important.
Meanwhile, it was our Shanghai-based colleagues who patiently educated us on the potential for the new holding in Bilibili – the fastest growing mainstream entertainment portal for Chinese teenagers and young adults. Bilibili’s range of video, gaming and anime comic content is formidable (and hugely under monetised) but the registration process for any budding Bilibili curator or commentator involves a test with one hundred multiple choice questions on topics including copyrights, commentary etiquette, platform neologism and – à la Mastermind – niche questions based on topics of the entrant’s choosing. To western observers, this is bemusing because every successful social platform in the west is focussed on reducing registration friction. But for Bilibili, the initiation ritual of the entrance exam cements the bond that users have with the platform, aligning them with the existing community to drive a stickier user base and fewer trolls – a dynamic that is so easy for a cognitively narrow stock market to overlook.”
6. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD)
Proem Advisors’ Stake Value: $7,621,000
Percentage of Proem Advisors’ 13F Portfolio: 5.98%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49
Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) is the largest online agricultural marketplace in China. They have, to date, helped about 16 million farmers digitize their selling process, and reach customers easily. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD)’s main strategic focus is to improve the agricultural supply chain across the country. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) is one of Imran Khan’s top stock picks.
Proem Advisors’ owns 60,000 shares in Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD), valued at $7.62 million, making up 5.98% of Khan’s 13F portfolio.
At the end of Q2, 49 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD), down from 56 in the previous quarter.
Like Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) is one of the best stocks in Proem Advisors’ Q2 portfolio.
Here is what Baillie Gifford has to say about Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) in its Q2 2021 investor letter:
“As many countries enjoy a relaxation of Covid restrictions, Mr Market is focussed on short-term beneficiaries of ‘the pleasure after the plague’. There are interesting parallels with the Roaring 20s here, but to our minds, they extend beyond post-pandemic hedonism. Much of the new wealth created in the 1920s was patchily distributed and accompanied by a pervasive sense that the older generation had let down younger people. In 1920, John F. Carter, an irate 23-year-old wrote “the older generation had certainly pretty well ruined this world before passing it on to us. We have been forced to live in an atmosphere of ‘tomorrow we die,’ and so, naturally, we drank and were merry.”
In a similar vein, some of the greatest Growth opportunities are materialising from the companies that are shifting humankind towards more sustainable ways of consuming by driving efficiencies and eliminating surplus. Pinduoduo’s ‘farm to table’ platform is one example – cutting out huge waste in farm produce and short circuiting layers of infrastructure by matching Chinese food supply and demand through a group buying model. In a similar vein, Meituan is well on the way to developing China’s primary ‘Software as a Service’ ecosystem for food distribution which we believe has a strong chance of replacing wasteful wet markets as the primary channel for transacting in produce.
Pinduoduo’s share price pulled back following news that Chinese regulators are investigating possible anti-competitive activities by the country’s large online companies. However, Pinduoduo appears well placed to navigate such regulatory scrutiny in the long-term, helped in part by its community buying business model that benefits consumers, manufacturers and farmers alike. Its business fundamentals are stellar– the company remains the largest Chinese e-commerce platform, with over 820 million annual active users (surpassing Alibaba and JD.com), while revenue growth increased by 239% over the previous year.”
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Disclosure: None. Top 10 Stock Picks of Imran Khan’s Proem Advisors is originally published on Insider Monkey.
