Li Ran’s Half Sky Portfolio: Pinterest, Facebook, and More

In this article, we are going to discuss Li Ran’s Half Sky Capital’s portfolio. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of Li Ran’s history and hedge fund performance, you can go directly to the Top 5 Stock Picks of Li Ran’s Half Sky Portfolio.

Half Sky Capital is an investment advisory firm headquartered in London which offers several investment services and products for investors in particular countries and regions. Half Sky Capital has a diversified portfolio and has investments in companies across the USA and China.  It was founded in 2016 by Li Ran, who is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Half Sky Capital. According to the second quarter filings of 2021, Li Ran’s Half Sky Capital has $341.094 million in assets.

Li Ran hailed from Beijing and immigrated to New York at the age of ten. She graduated with a degree in Italian Studies from Harvard University in 2001. Later on, she completed her MBA from INSEAD. Li Ran also worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs for three years and then became a partner and Managing director of Lone Pine Capital.

Securities filings for the second quarter of 2021 reveal that the portfolio value of Half Sky Capital increased by around $42.885 million. During this period, the fund made new purchases in 2 stocks, sold out of 2, made additional purchases in 4 stocks, and reduced holdings in 3 companies.

Some of the famous companies in Li Ran’s portfolio include Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS), and Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS).

Our Methodology

With this context in mind, here is our list of Li Ran’s Half Sky Portfolio. These were picked from Half Sky Capital’s Investment portfolio at the end of the second quarter of 2021.

The list is compiled according to the value of each holding in Half Sky Capital’s portfolio.

The hedge fund sentiment around each stock was taken from the data of 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.

Why should we care about hedge fund activity?  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 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.

Li Ran’s Half Sky Portfolio: Pinterest, Facebook, and More

9. ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA)

Li Ran’s Stake Value: $4.28 million

 

Percentage of Li Ran’s 13F Portfolio: 1.25%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22

ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA) is an automotive auction market headquartered in New York. ACV Auctions Inc, (NASDAQ: ACVA) is a digital marketplace that allows dealers to buy and sell vehicles across the United States. According to the recent filings, Half Sky Capital has 167,137 shares in ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA) worth $4.28 million, representing 1.25% of the hedge fund’s portfolio.

Baron Opportunity Fund mentioned ACV Auctions Inc (NASDAQ:ACVA) in their investor letter for the second quarter of 2021. Here is what the fund said:

“Shares of ACV Auctions Inc., the leading digital marketplace for wholesale automotive transactions, declined after a successful IPO in late March despite reporting robust results. Given its strong post-IPO performance, ACV permitted a partial early release of the lock-up for existing investors, which put pressure on the stock. We exited our small position.”

8. Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Li Ran’s Stake Value: $9.65 million

 

Percentage of Li Ran’s 13F Portfolio: 2.83%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) is an American chain of restaurants that specializes in chicken wings. The company was founded in 1994, and by 2002, it had sold one billion wings. According to Half Sky Capital’s recent filings, the fund owns 61,271 shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) worth $9.65 million.

ClearBridge Investments mentioned Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) as their new buy in their investor letter for the second quarter of 2021. Here is what it said:

“Other new buys included Wingstop. Wingstop, meanwhile, in the consumer discretionary sector, is doing to chicken wings what Domino’s did to pizza. With a strong digital model, the franchise-based business has a long runway for growth with an existing base of 1,500 stores expanding to potentially 6,000 units and compelling franchisee economics.”

7. TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL)

Li Ran’s Stake Value: $10.2 million

 

Percentage of Li Ran’s 13F Portfolio: 3%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39

TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) is a Chinese company that offers after-school education programs for primary and secondary students. It is based in Beijing, China. Half Sky Capital owns 406,645 shares of the company worth $10.2 million, making up 3% of the fund’s portfolio.

Investment management firm Tao Value discussed TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) in their second-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:

“On detracting side, our largest loss came from our recent new education positions, TAL. New legislation on both private K9 education & private tutoring materialized in the past quarter, and they turned out to be irrationally harsher & broader than anticipated. When such worst scenario fold out, the prospects of the company undoubtably has changed significantly. Although I believe that market overreacted on this company, it appears that I have made a mistake underestimating the regulatory impact and picking it up too soon. Our position sizes reflected my evaluation of the risk, and I decide to stay put.”

6. Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Li Ran’s Stake Value: $25.87 million

 

Percentage of Li Ran’s 13F Portfolio: 7.58%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) is a California-based cloud-based HR management system and managerial finance software, vendor. According to Half Sky Capital’s recent filings, the fund owns 108,371 shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) worth $25.87 million, representing 7.58% of its portfolio.

Out of 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 72 had stakes in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) worth $5.187 billion in the second quarter of 2021.

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) was one of the few companies that ClearBridge Investments mentioned in their investor letter for the first quarter of 2021. Here is what it said:

“In addition to the new issue market, we have been tactically adding growth exposure. We took advantage of the selloff in disruptors that comprise a large portion of the portfolio to initiate a position in enterprise software maker Workday.”

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Disclosure: None. Li Ran’s Half Sky Portfolio: Pinterest, Facebook, and More is originally published on Insider Monkey.