The Street – According to Goldman Sachs’ first-quarter Hedge Fund Trend Monitor, which dissects 700 hedge funds with $1.25 trillion in equity assets, Apple ranks as the No. 1 “must-have” stock. While billionaire George Soros dumped nearly 100,000 shares of Apple in the first quarter, the company was among the top 10 positions at 63 hedge funds as of March 31, heading the so-called VIP list.
Goldman, which limits the hedge fund universe to funds with 10 to 200 distinct equity positions, says the hedge fund VIP list offers an easy vehicle for investors seeking to “follow the smart money” based on 13-F filings. According to the data, this basket of 50 stocks most important to hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 in 2009 (40% to 27%) and 2010 (19% to 15%) after falling behind the broader index by nearly 1,300 basis points in 2008. The VIP list has returned 4.8% so far this year, trailing the 5.8% increase on the S&P 500.
