Viking's former investment chief is gearing up to launch his own fund in mid-2020 and join the long list of Tiger Management grandcubs
- Ben Jacobs, the former co-chief investment officer at Viking Global, is in the process of starting his own fund, which sources tell Business Insider will be named Anomaly Capital.
- Jacobs is following in the path of Daniel Sundheim and other Viking standouts in starting his own fund. He spent more than a decade at O. Andreas Halvorsen's shop.
- Jacobs hopes to launch in the second half of 2020 and is currently in the process of building out his investment and business development teams. It is unclear much capital he plans to raise.
- Industry insiders told us that expectations are high for a big launch. Sundheim raised $4 billion for D1 Capital Partners, which began trading in 2018.
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The Tiger family tree continues to grow.
Ben Jacobs, Viking Global Investors' former co-chief investment officer, is planning to launch his own fund in New York, which will be named Anomaly Capital, sources tell Business Insider. He left Viking in June.
A source close to Jacobs said he is currently in the process of building out his investment and business development teams, and that he is going to be the CEO and CIO of the new firm.
It is unknown how much money Jacobs is looking to raise but he plans to begin trading in the second half of 2020. There is a recent precedent for the ex-Viking executive to follow for a big launch: Daniel Sundheim raised $4 billion for D1 Capital Partners, which began trading in 2018, after he worked at Viking for 15 years.
Jacobs' rise to the upper ranks of billionaire O. Andreas Halvorsen's fund - one of the most successful funds founded by Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson's former analysts - mirrors Sundheim's, as Jacobs progressed from analyst to portfolio manager to co-CIO over a ten-year run.
He and Ning Jin became co-CIOs when Sundheim left the firm in 2017 to start D1. Jin became the sole CIO for public equities in June when Jacobs left the firm.
Jacobs joined Viking in 2009 after spending five years at Blackstone, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jacobs could not be reached for comment. Viking declined to comment on whether it will be supporting the new fund, but a source familiar with the firm's thinking told Business Insider that Viking is not in the business of backing other hedge funds.
Jacobs will join a long list of Viking alumni - considered Tiger Grandcubs by industry watchers because of the extended connection to Robertson - that have gone on to start their own fund.
Just since 2013, Sundheim, Jeff Eberwein, James Parsons, Steve Rosenberg, and Paul Enright have all launched their own funds. Former analyst Steve Mykijewycz is planning to launch a fund focused on real estate and consumer stocks with $200 million in 2020, Hedge Fund Alert reported this summer.