Andreas Halvorsen

Ole Andreas Halvorsen
Born	Ole Andreas Halvorsen
Nationality	Norwegian-American
Occupation	Hedge fund manager, investor
Employer	Viking Global Investors LP
Known for	Founder of Viking Global Investors

Ole Andreas Halvorsen is a Norwegian-American billionaire hedge fund manager and the founder of Viking Global Investors LP, one of the largest and most prominent hedge fund firms in the world. Based in the United States, Halvorsen built Viking Global into a firm managing approximately $55 billion in assets, establishing himself as one of the most closely watched equity investors on Wall Street. Halvorsen is part of a group of hedge fund managers known as "Tiger Cubs"—protégés of legendary investor Julian Robertson who trained at Tiger Management before launching their own firms. His quarterly 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are scrutinized by analysts and retail investors alike for signals about major market trends, particularly in technology, financials, and large-capitalization U.S. equities. Under his leadership, Viking Global Investors has maintained a reputation for disciplined, research-intensive long/short equity investing, though the firm has navigated periods of both strong outperformance and underperformance relative to broader markets and peer funds.

Career

Founding of Viking Global Investors

Halvorsen founded Viking Global Investors LP after training under Julian Robertson at Tiger Management, one of the most influential hedge funds in history. Robertson's Tiger Management produced a generation of hedge fund managers—colloquially known as "Tiger Cubs"—who went on to establish their own firms, and Halvorsen is among the most prominent of this group. Viking Global grew into one of the largest hedge funds in the world, with assets under management reaching approximately $55 billion.

The firm is headquartered in the United States and operates primarily as a long/short equity fund, employing fundamental, research-driven analysis to identify investment opportunities across global equity markets. Viking Global has been noted for its concentrated portfolio approach, with significant positions in large-capitalization U.S. companies, particularly in the technology and financial sectors.

Investment Strategy and Portfolio Management

Halvorsen's investment approach at Viking Global is characterized by large, concentrated bets on individual equities, combined with active portfolio management that involves frequent adjustments to position sizes based on evolving market conditions and fundamental analysis. The firm's quarterly 13F filings—mandatory disclosures of equity holdings for institutional investment managers—have become closely followed indicators of Halvorsen's market outlook and sector preferences.

In the third quarter of 2025, Viking Global's portfolio was led by a significant position in Microsoft Corporation, which represented approximately 3.27% of the fund's total holdings. The filing revealed that Halvorsen maintained substantial exposure to major technology companies while also making adjustments to other positions.

During the same period, Halvorsen made aggressive reductions across multiple high-profile technology holdings. The firm notably reduced its position in Meta Platforms and trimmed other "high-beta" investments—stocks with greater sensitivity to overall market movements. This series of moves suggested a deliberate shift in risk posture, with Halvorsen appearing to reduce exposure to momentum-driven technology names in favor of a more balanced portfolio composition.

A broader analysis of Viking Global's third quarter 2025 portfolio revealed a series of new stock additions, major disposals, and shifts among top holdings. The portfolio adjustments reflected Halvorsen's active management style, with the fund simultaneously initiating new positions while exiting or substantially reducing others.

Strategic Shift Toward Financials (2025–2026)

By late 2025, a discernible strategic shift became apparent in Viking Global's portfolio. Analysis of the firm's 13F filings indicated that Halvorsen was positioning the fund for 2026 with a "decisive shift toward large U.S. financials," alongside continued selective exposure to other sectors. This pivot toward financial-sector stocks represented a notable change in emphasis from the technology-heavy portfolio that had characterized much of Viking Global's recent positioning.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Halvorsen further refined this approach. The firm's 13F filing for the period showed a reduction in its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the largest U.S. banks by market capitalization. The move drew attention from analysts who were tracking the fund's evolving stance on the financial sector, as it suggested that Halvorsen was actively managing the size and composition of his financial-sector bets rather than simply building broad exposure.

Technology Stock Repositioning

In early 2026, Halvorsen made headlines for selling Viking Global's stakes in two of the world's largest technology companies—Nvidia Corporation and Amazon.com, Inc.—both members of the so-called "trillion-dollar club" of companies with market capitalizations exceeding $1 trillion. At the same time, the fund redirected capital toward another trillion-dollar company, signaling a selective rather than wholesale retreat from the technology sector.

The Motley Fool reported that Viking Global's fund—described in the context of that report as a "$39 billion fund"—had sent shares of Nvidia and Amazon "to the chopping block" while making another major technology company "the star" of the portfolio. This move was consistent with Halvorsen's pattern of active rotation among large-capitalization equities, seeking to capitalize on relative value differences among the world's largest companies rather than maintaining static positions.

These portfolio adjustments underscored the degree to which Halvorsen's investment decisions are monitored by the broader investment community. Each quarterly filing became a news event, with financial media outlets parsing the changes for insights into Halvorsen's market outlook and broader trends in institutional investor sentiment.

Leadership and Organizational Changes

Viking Global Investors experienced a significant leadership transition in 2024 when Ning Jin, the firm's longtime chief investment officer, departed at the end of August 2024 to launch his own hedge fund. Jin's departure marked the first time in many years that Viking Global operated without a key investing lieutenant alongside Halvorsen, raising questions among industry observers about the potential impact on the firm's investment process and performance.

The year 2025 represented the first full calendar year in which Viking Global operated without Jin's presence. According to Business Insider, the firm's performance during this period lagged behind that of several of its Tiger Cub peers—other hedge funds founded by former Tiger Management alumni. The publication noted that this underperformance occurred against the backdrop of a broader stock market environment, suggesting that Viking Global's particular portfolio positioning may not have captured the same gains as rival funds during the period.

The performance gap drew attention in the hedge fund industry, where the relative standings of Tiger Cub firms are tracked as a measure of each manager's continuing investment acumen. For Halvorsen, the results in Jin's absence placed additional focus on his own role in day-to-day portfolio decision-making and the firm's ability to maintain its historical performance standards through a period of organizational change.

Portfolio Overview and Sector Allocation

Analysis of Viking Global's filings over the course of 2025 and into early 2026 reveals a portfolio characterized by large positions in some of the world's most recognizable companies. Microsoft Corporation held a leading position in the portfolio as of the third quarter of 2025, with a 3.27% weighting. The fund also maintained exposure to major financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., though position sizes were actively managed and adjusted from quarter to quarter.

The portfolio's sector allocation evolved notably over this period. The decisive shift toward U.S. financials identified in late 2025 filings was balanced against continued but selective technology exposure, with high-profile reductions in Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Amazon reflecting a willingness to exit or reduce positions in companies that had experienced significant price appreciation.

Broader analysis from The Acquirer's Multiple covering Viking Global's investment activity highlighted the fund's approach of making decisive, concentrated moves rather than incremental adjustments, with new positions initiated and existing positions substantially altered on a regular basis.

Recognition

Halvorsen's standing in the investment management industry is reflected in the extensive media coverage his portfolio moves receive. Financial publications including Yahoo Finance, Seeking Alpha, Business Insider, The Motley Fool, and The Acquirer's Multiple routinely publish detailed analyses of Viking Global's quarterly 13F filings, treating each disclosure as a significant market event.

As one of the most prominent "Tiger Cubs"—the cohort of hedge fund managers who trained under Julian Robertson at Tiger Management—Halvorsen occupies a notable position in the history of the modern hedge fund industry. Viking Global's growth to approximately $55 billion in assets under management placed it among the largest hedge funds globally, and Halvorsen has been consistently identified as a billionaire in financial media coverage.

The level of scrutiny applied to Halvorsen's investment decisions reflects the broader influence attributed to his portfolio choices. Market participants and financial analysts use the firm's regulatory filings as data points for understanding institutional sentiment toward individual stocks and sectors, and significant position changes—such as the 2026 exits from Nvidia and Amazon—generate widespread discussion in financial media.

Legacy

Halvorsen's career at Viking Global Investors represents one of the more prominent examples of the Tiger Management lineage in the hedge fund industry. Julian Robertson's influence on a generation of fund managers is well documented, and Halvorsen's firm stands as one of the largest and most enduring enterprises to emerge from that lineage. The firm's growth from its founding to a $55 billion operation illustrates the scalability of the fundamental, research-driven equity investment model that Robertson pioneered.

The departure of Ning Jin in 2024 and the subsequent period of relative underperformance introduced questions about the sustainability of Viking Global's historical returns in the absence of key personnel, a challenge common to large hedge fund organizations that have relied on a small number of senior investment decision-makers. Halvorsen's management of this transition—and the fund's subsequent portfolio repositioning toward financials and selective technology exposure—will be a factor in assessments of his long-term record as a fund manager.

The degree to which Halvorsen's 13F filings function as market-moving events in their own right speaks to the influence that large institutional investors exert on public markets. Viking Global's position changes—particularly in widely held technology and financial stocks—are dissected by a broad audience of professional and retail investors, amplifying the fund's impact beyond its direct market transactions.