Professional Documents
Culture Documents
May 2009
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS: Jim Cunningham & Ejnar Knudsen STRATEGY AUM: $33 Million SUBSCRIPTIONS: Monthly OPEN/CLOSED STATUS: Open
STRATEGY INCEPTION DATE: 3/2009 FIRM AUM: $2.4 Billion REDEMPTIONS: Quarterly MINIMUM INVESTMENT: $3 Million
FIRM OVERVIEW
Passport Capital, LLC is a San Francisco based investment firm founded by John H. Burbank III in 2000. Passport’s investment process uses a combination of macroeconomic analyses
to develop major themes and rigorous fundamental research on individual companies to create global portfolios. The firm’s investment team focuses on the following areas: Agriculture,
Basic Materials, Capital Markets, Consumer, Energy, Healthcare, India, Internet/Technology and Middle East & North Africa. As appropriate, the firm makes available to its limited
partners co-investment opportunities.
INVESTMENT STRATEGY
The agriculture strategy is a long biased strategy investing in targeted sectors within the global food and agriculture industry ranging from “dirt to dinner table”, including agricultural
inputs, proteins, producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. World population growth, coupled with increasing demand and a tight supply of food, has led us to seek out the
franchises and bottlenecks within the industry. Namely, we look to identify companies with pricing power and those which benefit from supply chain bottlenecks at compelling valuations.
The strategy also seeks to identify industries that are approaching their cyclical inflection points, such as proteins (supply destruction for the past several years has positioned the sector
for tight supply/demand economics that could yield significant profits) and carbohydrates (worldwide sugar supply is tight, beverage companies have introduced retro drinks using cane
sugar, and there continues to be growing renewable fuel demand). Our global perspective and integrated approach gives us a unique advantage investing in the worldwide agriculture
industry.
EXPOSURES JAN 09 FEB 09 MAR 09 APR 09 MAY 09 JUN 09 JUL 09 AUG 09 SEP 09 OCT 09 NOV 09 DEC 09 AVG RANGE
Long 48% 67% 71% 62% 48-71%
Short -34% -74% -78% -62% (34-78%)
Gross 82% 142% 149% 124% 82-149%
Net 14% -7% -8% 0% -8-14%
PERFORMANCE YTD SINCE FUND INCEP*
SECTOR LONG SHORT NET GROSS Jim Cunningham, CFA, Portfolio Manager
Commodities 11% 0% 11% 11% Manages the investment management and research process for basic materials, agriculture and commodity investments
Ag Equipment 2% -6% -4% 7% ▪ 1997-2003 Portfolio Manager for Renberg Capital Management. Co-managed $500 mm in assets.
▪ 1996-1997 Vice President of Business Development for Crossroads Software
Fertilizer 8% -1% 7% 8%
▪ 1994-1996 Senior Director of Worldwide Industry Strategy Group for Oracle Corp
Seed/Crop Protection 3% -2% 2% 5% ▪ 1993-1994 Consultant for Booz Allen & Hamilton in San Francisco
Forest/Timber/Paper 0% 0% 0% 0% ▪ 1985-1990 Manager in Information Services Group for Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong
Agribusiness 4% 0% 4% 4% ▪ 1992 MA in Food Research received from Stanford University
Ag Processor 7% -2% 5% 9% ▪ 1992 MBA received from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
▪ 1985 BS received in Financial Economics from Lehigh University
Protein Prod./Proc. 16% -6% 10% 21%
Food & Beverage 5% -13% -9% 18% Ejnar Knudsen, CFA, Portfolio Manager
Co-manages the investment management and research process for food, agriculture and commodity investments
Food Retail/Service 8% -15% -7% 23%
▪ 1998-Present Portfolio Manager for Craton Capital, an investment partnership focused on the agriculture industry
Transports 0% -2% -2% 2% ▪ 2001-2007 Executive Vice President of Western Milling, a feed milling co. with over $700 million in sales
Other 8% -22% -14% 31% ▪ 1991-2001 Vice President for Rabobank in New York; managed a loan portfolio, venture capital investments and
Diversified Index/Fund 0% -10% -10% 10% corporate advisory services in food, agriculture and commodities
TOTAL 71% -78% -7% 149% ▪ 1991 BS received from Cornell University
▪ Serves in various capacities at the board and/or advisory level of six agricultural organizations: AdecoAgro,
TOP 5 LONGS
Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, California Grain and Feed Association, Limoneira, Western
Milling and Cillion
COMPANY TICKER SECTOR EXPOSURE
TERMS
JBS SA JBSS3 Protein Prod. 10%
Imperial Sugar Co IPSU Ag Processor 7% INVESTOR TYPE STANDARD* COMMITTED*
Kroger Co KR Food Retail 5% Management Fee: 2% 1.25%
Coffee Futures Sep 09 KCU09 Commodities 5% Incentive Fee: 20% 15%
MagIndustries MAA Fertilizer 4% Lock-Up: None 3 Years
Redemption: Quarterly Quarterly
KEY PORTFOLIO DATA
4% fee yr.1; 3% fee yr. 2; 2% fee yr. 3
AVG.WEIGHTED Notice: 60 days 60 days
NO.OF POSITIONS
MKT.CAP Co-Investment Opportunity: No Yes
Public Long 28 $21.6B
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Public Short 48 $7.1B
Private 0 - Structure: Master/Feeder Prime Broker: Goldman Sachs
* Both Standard and Committed share classes have the Vehicles: BVI Offshore/Delaware LP Administrator: Citco Fund Services
ability to “opt-out” of all private equity investments. US Legal Counsel: Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP Auditor: Ernst & Young
30 Hotaling Place, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94111 Tel (415) 321-4600 Fax (415) 321-4620 www.passportcapital.com Page 1 of 2
AGRICULTURE STRATEGY
May 2009
For more information please contact: Sarah McLane (415) 321-4611 sarah@passportcapital.com
30 Hotaling Place, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94111 Tel (415) 321-4600 Fax (415) 321-4620 www.passportcapital.com Page 2 of 2