WHY TIGER 21’S MILLIONAIRE MEMBERS ARE PULLING AWAY FROM HEDGE FUNDS
By Gregg Greenberg
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — A recent poll of the prestigiousTIGER 21 investingclub revealed that its well-heeled members are “concerned, but not overly concerned” about the market’s recent meltdown, said the group’s chairman Michael Sonnenfeldt. “About half our them said the market correction is about average, or what they expected, and about a third think it’s going to get worse, so they are pulling back a little,” said Sonnenfeldt. TIGER 21 (The Investment Group for Enhanced Results in the 21st Century)is a peer-to-peer learning network for high net-worth investors. TIGER 21’s 300 members collectively manage approximately $30 billion in investable assets. Members are entrepreneurs, CEOs, inventors and top executives who have a minimum of $10 million in investable assets. The TIGER 21learning experience centers on improving its members’ investment acumen through critique and coaching, as well as exploring issues including wealth preservation, estate planning and family dynamics. Of course, this elite group certainly has the means to gain entry into high-priced hedge funds to protect against, or even profit from, the market’s volatility. Nevertheless, Sonnenfeldt said TIGER 21’s members have been pulling back on hedge funds since 2008 and now hold 10% to 15% oftheir assets in them, which is historically low for the group. “What they found in 2008 was that they owned a lot of complicated structures that they didn’t understand and it’s been back to basics since then,” said Sonnenfeldt, adding that when it comes to simple stock picking,Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A–Get Report)andApple(AAPL–Get Report)widely appear in its members’ portfolios. Sonnenfeldt said TIGER 21 members are generally holding about 12% of their investable assets in cash. He said this is a general practice to maintain liquidity should the market overreact on either side, as opposed to a bearish market call. “When you have enough cash, you don’t have to liquidate at the bottom,” said Sonnenfeldt. Finally, when it comes to the presidential campaign, Sonnenfeldt said the millionaires in the TIGER 21 club are generally centrist by nature and run the full political spectrum. “Presidential politics are a tough thing right now and it’s not the main focus,” said Sonnenfeldt. “We are more interested in what theFedis doing.”
