We recently published a list of Unknown Billionaire Phill Gross’ 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential. In this article, we are going to take a look at where UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stands against other unknown billionaire Phill Gross’ stock picks with huge upside potential.
Phillip “Phill” Gross is a seasoned investor and influential figure in the world of institutional asset management, best known as the Co-founder, Managing Director, and Healthcare Portfolio Manager of Adage Capital Management. While Robert Atchinson, his longtime collaborator and fellow Co-founder, serves as the firm’s Portfolio Manager, Gross’s leadership and strategic vision have played a foundational role in shaping Adage’s long-term investment philosophy and reputation. The two met in the mid-1980s while working as Harvard University’s endowment analysts. Their professional synergy led them to leave Harvard Management Company in the 1990s, following public scrutiny over performance-based bonuses. With the backing of an initial $1.8 billion investment from Harvard and an agreement for the university to receive 10% of the firm’s earnings, they launched Adage Capital Management in 2001 alongside an 18-person team.
Under Gross’s co-leadership, Adage has become a key player in managing assets for prominent institutional clients such as Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Northwestern University, the American Red Cross, and the Getty Foundation. The firm specializes in long/short equity strategies guided by fundamental analysis and engages in risk arbitrage and event-driven opportunities when market conditions are favourable. Adage Capital Management and its predecessor, the Select Equity Group at Harvard Management Company, have consistently outperformed broader market benchmarks by an average of 3.5% over the past 15 years. This is a testament to the disciplined, research-driven investment framework that Gross helped instill.
Gross himself brings a deep background in healthcare investing, having served for nearly two decades at Harvard Management Company in various roles, including Healthcare and Retail Analyst, Equity Research Director, and Partner. His academic credentials include a B.S. in finance and economics (1982) and an M.S. in investments (1983), both from the University of Wisconsin. He remains actively engaged with his alma mater, serving on the advisory boards of the Steve Hawk Center for Applied Securities Analysis and the Nicholas Center for Applied Corporate Finance. In recognition of his professional accomplishments and ongoing contributions, Gross received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin Business School in 2006.
Beyond finance, Gross is a committed philanthropist. He co-founded Strategic Grant Partners, an organization focused on driving systemic change in education and family services throughout Massachusetts. He also serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Youth Enrichment Services, a nonprofit that provides urban youth with outdoor recreational experiences. In addition, he holds board positions with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, where he is Vice-Chair of the Investment Committee, and with the T2 Foundation.
Adage Capital Management’s latest 13F filing for Q4 2024 reported $57.19 billion in managed securities, with the top 10 holdings comprising 31.7% of the total portfolio, demonstrating a strategic yet diversified approach to asset allocation. While Atchinson oversees day-to-day portfolio management, Gross’s enduring influence and expertise, particularly in healthcare investing, continue to shape the firm’s long-term success and institutional credibility.
Our Methodology
We searched through Adage Capital Management’s Q4 2024 13F filings to identify unknown billionaire Phill Gross’ stock picks with the highest upside potential. We compiled the equities with upside potential higher than 34% at the time of writing this article and discussed why they stood out as strong potential investments. Finally, we ranked the stocks based on the ascending order of their upside potential. To assist readers with more context, we mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock using data from 1,009 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).
A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 150
Adage Capital Management’s Equity Stake: $461.15 Million
Upside Potential as of May 2: 41.01%
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, is a prominent American multinational company that operates in the health insurance and healthcare services sectors. It conducts its insurance operations under the UnitedHealthcare brand and provides healthcare services through its Optum division. Known for its historical stability and conservative financial forecasting, the company has long been a bellwether in the healthcare sector. However, in the March 2025 quarter, UnitedHealth posted adjusted earnings of $7.20 per share, falling short of analyst expectations of $7.29 per share. This marked its first earnings miss since 2008 and came as a shock to investors, raising concerns across the entire health insurance sector.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) attributed the miss to higher-than-anticipated medical costs, driven by a sharp increase in demand for physician and outpatient services, particularly among patients enrolled in government-backed Medicare plans. This surge, which began in mid-2023, has strained the insurance industry-wide, but UnitedHealth was particularly affected due to its reliance on the Optum Health unit, which oversees services such as Medicare prescription drug plans. Complicating matters further were changes in reimbursement structures stemming from government policy adjustments under the Biden administration, which reduced funding for Medicare Advantage programs. According to CEO Andrew Witty, these funding cuts, combined with unanticipated shifts in the health needs and engagement levels of new patients, resulted in reimbursement rates that did not accurately reflect the actual health status of the insured populations.
In response to the operational challenges facing its Optum division, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) announced a leadership change to steer the segment through this volatile period. On April 30, the company appointed Dr. Patrick Conway as the new Chief Executive Officer of Optum, effective May 6. Conway will take over from Heather Cianfrocco, who has been promoted to serve as UnitedHealth Group’s Executive Vice President of Governance, Compliance, and Information Security. The leadership transition signals UnitedHealth’s commitment to strengthening oversight and adjusting its strategies within Optum to better manage cost structures, patient engagement, and government reimbursements. As UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) navigates these headwinds, its ability to recalibrate its services and forecasts will be critical to regaining investor confidence and stabilizing its financial trajectory.
Overall, UNH ranks 4th on our list of unknown billionaire Phill Gross’ stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential of UNH as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UNH but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.