Theseus Pharmaceuticals Inc (THRX)

[surf1944]

Reclusive Value Investor Klarman Rotates into Several New Names
Thursday May 15, 10:13 am ET
By the tickerspy.com Staff

The name may not be familiar to many individual investors, but Seth Klarman, manager of hedge fund Baupost Group, is revered on Wall Street. Over the last 25 years, he's earned on average about 20% per year for his investors, and his long out-of-print book, Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor has become a valuable rarity, fetching over $1,000 on Amazon and eBay.

Unlike some familiar faces in the world of high-powered investors, Klarman has kept a low profile, staying off CNBC and rarely giving interviews to journalists. Baupost has been closed to new investors for over seven years. As the title of his book indicates, Klarman is most interested in low-risk opportunities. He has said that he seeks out situations where he believes equities are undervalued, including in distressed situations and bankruptcies, and has been known to keep 40% or more of his portfolio in cash - a huge proportion in the often highly leveraged hedge fund world - as he seeks out the right opportunities.

Looking at Baupost's top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings, Klarman rotated into a few new names during Q1: health insurer Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP - News), biotech Theravance (Nasdaq: THRX - News), paper manufacturer International Paper (NYSE: IP - News), book retailer Borders Group (NYSE: BGP - News), and blank check company Global Consumer Acquisition (AMEX: GHC - News).

Subsequent filings for activity since the end of Q1 have also shown that Klarman opened a position in biotech PDL Biopharma (Nasdaq: PDLI - News) and added to his stake in shipping firm Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ - News). Also among Baupost's top holdings at the end of Q1 are an eclectic batch of firms, including long-time holding News Corp. (NYSE: NWS - News), as well as natural gas firm Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE: APL - News) and cosmetic laser company Syneron Medical (Nasdaq: ELOS - News). Klarman also exited his stake in beleaguered educational lender SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM - News), better known as Sallie Mae.

If you want to see how your performance stacks up to Seth Klarman's or see some other Baupost holdings, visit tickerspy.com to see Baupost's top positions and a chart of their combined performance.

Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions' top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. As such, Pro portfolio performance should be considered an approximation and not a precise record of how an institution has performed over time.





surf's up......crikey