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Technology Stocks : Citrix Systems (CTXS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dom B. who wrote (5157)	3/5/1998 4:00:00 PM
From: David Lawrence	Respond to of 9068

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jeffrey Vinik's hedge fund had 62% of its equity assets in the turbulent technology sector at the end of last year, up from 49% at the end of the third quarter and Vinik's second-largest stake heading into this year was Intel Corp. The semiconductor giant paced Thursday's market downturn in the tech sector after warning that its first-quarter revenue and earnings would be lower than Wall Street's expectations due to weak demand for personal computers. In late-afternoon trading, Intel (INTC) was down $9.875, or 11.4%, at $76.563. During the fourth quarter, Vinik snapped up more than 960,000 shares of Intel, which represented about 4% of the fund's equity assets. "That's the first time (Vinik's) reported a position in Intel," said Cary Krosinsky, vice president of research at Technimetrics Inc. The New York firm tracks institutional holdings by analyzing SEC filings. Vinik's largest holding, software maker Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS), seemed to be only slightly affected by the tech-sector woes as it was off 50 cents to $39.50. Vinik grabbed the nation's spotlight while at the helm of Fidelity Investments' Magellan Fund. He managed the giant mutual fund from 1992 to May 1996 but found himself widely criticized for its lackluster performance in his final year, which many blamed on a wayward bond bet. He went on to launch his own hedge fund shortly after leaving Fidelity, reportedly getting seed money from the likes of hedge fund guru George Soros. Hedge funds are unregulated private investment partnerships for the wealthy that can run the gamut in investment styles. While some managers use leverage to make speculative bets in global stock, bond and currency markets, others can be pretty plain-vanilla U.S. stock funds. It's critical to note that with Vinik, the only thing constant about his hedge fund positions is that they're inconsistent. "Vinik's been very much into small-cap tech stocks for a while," said Krosinsky. "But what he truly owns at any point in time is always a question. Even if you had a list of what he owned yesterday, it wouldn't necessarily reflect what he owns today." For his part, Vinik's mum on his moves. Mark Hostetter, chief operating officer for Boston-based Vinik Asset Management, says the firm won't comment on its investments. Vinik's fund runs a little closer to the plain type. He's taking both long and short positions in U.S. stocks, and many say he's using leverage to boost returns. It appears to be working. His fund reportedly returned more than 90% to investors last year. These days analysts say Vinik's sticking mostly to the tech sector, showing a bias for smaller-cap names there. The data also indicate he's learned a lot of the tricks of the hedge-fund trade. Names that appear on the top of the "bought" list in one quarter have often been liquidated by the next quarter. While the SEC data provide a snapshot of Vinik's activities, the picture's a little blurry. For instance, Vinik's U.S. equity assets at the end of last year were worth about $2 billion, according to Technimetrics. But that number doesn't reveal Vinik's possible stakes in bonds or international stocks. It also doesn't say how much of the portfolio's assets are leveraged, or made up of borrowed money, or indicate stocks he may have sold short. All that means is that while the data show he had 62% of his U.S. stock holdings in technology at the close of 1997, he may have short sold securities to hedge 25%, 50% or even all of that bet. Nevertheless, at the end of the fourth quarter, micro-cap, small-cap and medium-cap firms made up 85% of the 175 stocks in his portfolio, according to Technimetrics. Along with Intel and Citrix, his top holdings included Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (VTSS) and Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM), another semiconductor manufacturer. On the sell side, Vinik liquidated a stake in Jones Apparel Group Inc. (JNY) which he had held for about a year, Technimetrics' Krosinsky notes. Vinik also unloaded most of his position in telecommunications firm Ciena Corp. (CIEN).