Hedge funds like Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square and Seth Klarman’s Baupost typically grab all the attention, but some lesser-known, smaller investors have actually racked up better recent track records. CNBC Pro found the under-the-radar investors with the best stock-picking ability using hedge-fund tracking firm Symmetric.io . Then we found which stocks they are betting on. Symmetric.io grades the stock-picking ability of nearly 1,000 hedge funds in its database with a proprietary indicator of performance called StockAlpha. It is derived by comparing the performance of equities in the fund with that of a sector exchange-traded fund. The three-year StockAlpha score shows how much the managers have outperformed the broad market or the sectors they focus on over the past three years. Boxer Capital focuses on biotechnology companies. The fund kept Mirati Therapeutics , Odonate Therapeutics and BeiGene as its top three holdings at the end of the second quarter. First Light Asset Management also concentrated on biotech-focused names, with Model N , AtriCure and Prothena as its biggest bets. First Light added to these stakes slightly during the second quarter. Industrials and energy heavy Industrial stocks were prominent in some of these stock-picking hedge funds at the end of June. Electrical products manufacturer Hubbell and power management company Eaton were Sandler Capital Management’s biggest bets after increasing the stakes in the second quarter. The two stocks have both gained double digits in the third quarter. Another industrial stock Triton was well loved by Goodnow Investment, owning over $100 million worth of the stock at the end of June. The company saw its stock rally 20% this quarter, pushing its 2022 gain to about 5%. Meanwhile, Oaktree Capital was focused on the energy sector in the second quarter. Energy has been the standout grouping in this volatile year, boosted by surging oil and gas prices. Oaktree’s biggest holding at the end of June was Chesapeake Energy , with a stake worth more than $850 million. This stock has climbed over 60% this year. Vistra Energy was Oaktree’s third largest bet at the end of the second quarter. The hedge fund also held stakes in Petroleo , Berry and energy producer Civitas Resources .
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