10 Largest Hedge Funds in The World And Their Favorite Stock Picks

4. D.E. Shaw & Co (AUM: $40 billion) is another large hedge fund employing a mix of quantitative and qualitative strategies towards investing. This New York based investment management firm was founded by David E. Shaw in 1988. Recently the fund expressed interest in becoming the operating sponsor of the renewable energy yieldco Terraform Power Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the largest holding of D.E. Shaw with a total holding size of $905 million. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has rewarded investors with a stunning 300% return over the last 5 years and there is promise for more as it continue to steal market share from brick and mortar retailers. D.E. Shaw also increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sharply to 1.33% of its portfolio value in the third quarter up from just 0.42% by purchasing 4.3 million shares. This made it the second largest holding of D.E. Shaw.