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Newsmakers

Fernando Vinzons Named New CIO at Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund

Vinzons’ appointment comes at a time when Chicago Teachers’ is fighting to improve its poor funded ratio.
By Anna Gordon


The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund has announced the appointment of Fernando Vinzons as its new CIO. Vinzons previously served as the director of investments at Cook County Pension Fund and will begin his new role at CTPF on July 11.

“Fernando comes to CTPF with the leadership experience, technical background and vision needed to meet our policies, pacing, objectives and goals. His collaborative style and proven ability to assess stakeholder needs, implement policy and serve as a mentor to staff will serve the fund well. We are pleased to welcome Fernando to our team,” says CTPF Executive Director Carlton W. Lenoir, Sr.

Vinzons worked in the investment office of Cook County Pension Fund for over 13 years, eventually becoming the director of investments there in 2018. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois.

Like CTPF, Cook County has struggled with its funded ratio over the last decade. In its most recently published actuarial report, Cook County had a funded ratio of 63.87%. According to the press release, Vinzons helped grow Cook County’s pension portfolio despite its funded status, improving its peer ranking from the 65th percentile to 28th percentile while he was there. The portfolio also grew from $5.2 billion to $14 billion during his tenure. CTPF has $13 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2021.

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Home > News > Asset Allocation > The Tiger Cubs Get Clubbed as Tech Tanks
Asset Allocation

The Tiger Cubs Get Clubbed as Tech Tanks

These proteges of Julian Robertson, the hedge fund pioneer, were doing spectacularly well, until recently.

By Larry Light


The tigers of the hedge fund world aren’t as mighty these days. We’re talking about the so-called Tiger Cubs, funds run by proteges of legendary investor Julian Robertson, the eminence behind Tiger Management. These funds, for many years, have been the stars—until lately. Much of their ill fortune owes to the tech slump that has slammed the stock market this year.

Tiger Global, which was founded by Robertson protege Chase Coleman and boasts $75 billion under management, suffered a 14.3% slide in valuation in April, which combined with earlier losses means it is down more than 50% for the year. This is a dramatic reversal of fortune for the fund, which scored double-digit gains for years through 2021, when tech seemed unstoppable.

Robertson founded Tiger Management, one of the earliest hedge funds, in 1980. Like his disciples, he once had a strong focus on technology, although he wisely forecast the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000 and backed out of the sector. He closed his fund shortly after that, and invested in his proteges’ funds.

His apprentices don’t seem to possess the same prescience about tech’s weaknesses. In recent months, despite evidence of tech’s increasing unpopularity in the market, Tiger Global doubled down. For instance, regulatory filings show that in the first quarter the fund increased its position in cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike Holdings, which now makes up around 8% of its assets. Thus far this year, CrowdStrike is down 18%.

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“Our recent public fund performance is deeply frustrating. Our business is set up with duration to weather storms when they arise,” an investor letter from the company says. A spokesman for Tiger Global had no comment.

Another problem is Tiger Global’s illiquid assets in venture capital: The firm made 116 early-stage venture deals worldwide in 2021, per PitchBook. VC valuations have been punished lately. To calm nervous investors, the firm has indicated it will cut management fees by half a percentage point to 1%, through December 2023. 

Founder Coleman worked for Robertson until 2001, when Coleman formed Tiger Global. Robertson bankrolled him with billions in startup capital. Coleman’s fund was an early investor in Facebook (now Meta Platforms) and LinkedIn.

Another casualty among the Tiger Cub set is Coatue Management, which Phillipe Laffont runs. Laffont worked for Robertson as a telecom analyst in the 1990s. This fund also has about a tenth of its assets in private investments. Recently, investors tried to pull out $250 million from the $59 billion fund, but Coatue said it would reserve some of the asked-for redemption in a “side pocket,” a special escrow-like account that would pay out later once things improve.  

Coatue lost 11% as of the first quarter, some of which owes to slides in its tech holdings. Among its top investments, digital payments firm Block’s stock is off around 40% and electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive is down almost 70%.

Viking Global Investors, run by Andreas Halvorsen (assets: $25 billion) was down 9% as of April. Halvorsen, who also worked for Robertson in the 1990s, has large positions in the monster tech companies that used to dominate the S&P 500, such as Microsoft and Amazon. These stocks are down 17% and 25% respectively this year.

Coatue and Viking didn’t return requests for comment.

 

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