Coatue Management: This is the hedge fund that just wooed Goldman Sachs’ star technology banker Anthony Noto. The New York-based fund may not be as well known as, say, John Paulson’s eponymous Paulson & Co, but it’s a known quantity in Silicon Valley circles. Here’s what you need to know about Noto’s new employer.
- Coatue was founded in 1999 by Philippe Laffont.
- It’s believed that the hedge fund derives its name–Coatue–from one of Laffont’s choice vacation spots in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
- Laffont is considered a protege of famous Tiger Management luminary Julian Robertson. Robertson’s proteges have been come to be known in finance as ”Tiger Cubs.”
- Coatue is characterized as a long/short, tech-focused hedge fund. That means the fund makes both “long” investments in companies with the expectation that they’ll perform well, and short bets, or investments that reflect a bearish outlook.
- Coatue manages around $7 billon and recently opened an office in Menlo Park, California to be closer to some of its Silicon Valley targets. That move, along with the hiring of Noto, is a clear sign that Coatue plans on getting even more entrenched in the technology sector.
- According to Dealbook, Coatue has invested in startups such as Snapchat, Hotel Tonight and Box.
- Coatue also has made a number of investments in more established technology companies like Facebook and Amazon, according to Insider Monkey.
- Reports indicate Coatue’s performance has suffered in light of a recent downturn in tech stocks. The turmoil in tech has resulted in Laffont returning some $2 billion in capital to investors, CNBC reported last month.