Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH) has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately.
To most traders, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the moguls of this club, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls the majority of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by watching their top equity investments, we have revealed a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the recent action encompassing Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH).
How have hedgies been trading Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -7% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH), worth close to $86.5 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $63.3 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Since Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers who sold off their entire stakes in Q1. Interestingly, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital said goodbye to the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling close to $7.3 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also cut its stock, about $5.3 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q1.
How are insiders trading Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH). These stocks are Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL), First American Financial Corp (NYSE:FAF), White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd (NYSE:WTM), ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), and Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE). All of these stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps match AWH’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) | 18 | 0 | 6 |
| First American Financial Corp (NYSE:FAF) | 26 | 0 | 4 |
| White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd (NYSE:WTM) | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE) | 20 | 0 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by our research, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, AG. (NYSE:AWH) applies perfectly to this mantra.
