Inside the Hedge Fund of a Former Goldman Sachs Money Manager

Derek Pilecki of Gator Capital Management was kind enough to send along his 4th Quarter letter to investors in his hedge fund.

I am regularly impressed with the work Derek is doing at Gator and consider him to be one of the few top analysts that is under-reported on by mainstream financial media.

Derek founded Gator in 2008. From 2002 through 2008, he was a member of the Goldman Sachs Asset Management Growth Equity Team. While at GSAM, Derek was the co-Chair of the Investment Committee for the Growth Team and was a Portfolio Manager. He was also a member of the portfolio management team responsible for the Goldman Sachs Capital Growth Fund, and provided primary coverage of the Financials for the Growth Team.

From the launch of his fund in June 2008, he is up on an annualized basis 49.2%. During the same period, the S&P Index Total Return came in at only 1.61% and the S&P Financial ETF was down 7.13%. (The financial sector is the sector Derek specializes in.)

Derek's shareholder letter's are worth studying in detail, not only do they provide some interesting stock ideas, but they provide great insight into how a top money manager thinks.

Although, I am personally bullish on the market and wouldn't put many short positions on at this time, Derek's analysis of Blackrock stands out as a stock that clearly should be shorted if the market turns south. He makes a good case that Blackrock's acquisition of the iShares ETF business was a mistake. He thinks Blackrock's ETF business overall is a growth industry, but with no pricing power. He compares it to the airline industry.

Here's Derek's full report. Enjoy.