This Elite Fund’s Top Technology and Healthcare Picks Led By Apple (AAPL)

Beech Hill Advisors, led by Paul Cantor, Joseph Weiss and Will Wurm, recently filed its 13F with the SEC, disclosing its long positions in U.S-traded equities as of September 30. Let’s take a closer look at the fund’s top picks of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Welltower Inc (NYSE:HCN), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and see what the investment firm likes about them, as well as what fellow elite investors think about them.

Most investors don’t understand hedge funds and indicators that are based on hedge funds’ activities. They ignore hedge funds because of their recent poor performance in the bull market. Our research indicates that hedge funds underperformed because they aren’t 100% long. Hedge fund fees are also very large compared to the returns generated and they reduce the net returns experienced by investors. We uncovered that hedge funds’ long positions actually outperformed the market. For instance the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among funds beat the S&P 500 Index by more than 53 percentage points since the end of August 2012. These stocks returned a cumulative of 102% vs. a 48.7% gain for the S&P 500 Index (see the details here). That’s why we believe investors should pay attention to what hedge funds are buying (rather than what their net returns are).

#5 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Shares held (as of September 30): 169,223
Total Value (as of September 30): $5.32 million
Percent of Portfolio (as of September 30): 3.39%

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) may return to its M&A roots with a potential blockbuster merger with Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN), the maker of Botox, various biosimilars, and more than 1,000 generics and branded OTC products. If a merger between the two giants is consummated, the combined company would save on tax costs every year because Allergan is based in tax-friendly Ireland. The U.S currently has a top corporate tax rate of 35% while Ireland has a top corporate tax rate of 12.5%. Carl Icahn and U.S politicians aren’t happy about the merger, and it remains to be seen whether the management of the two firms can pull the deal off. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owned 31.9 million shares of Pfizer at the end of September.

#4 Welltower Inc (NYSE:HCN)

Shares held (as of September 30): 94,780
Total Value (as of September 30): $6.42 million
Percent of Portfolio (as of September 30): 4.09%

After rallying from $20-a-share in 2009 to $80-a-share at the beginning of 2015, shares of Welltower Inc (NYSE:HCN) are down by 9.96% year-to-date as the stock consolidates its gains and rising interest rates weigh on demand. The secular rally may not be over, however. Given the aging American population, healthcare REIT’s such as Welltower Inc (NYSE:HCN) have substantial growth opportunities over the next decade or two, as baby boomers retire into senior living communities. Jeffrey Furber‘s AEW Capital Management owned 2.2 million shares of Welltower at the end of June.

Three of the biggest tech stocks in the world lead the equity portfolio of Beech Hill, as you’ll see on the next page.