Whitney Tilson’s Kase Fund Falls 7.3% In 2015 As Long Bets Backfire

Whitney Tilson's Kase Fund declined 7.3% during 2015 versus 1.4% the S&P 500 (with dividends invested). Since inception to the end of 2015, the fund has returned 158.6% for investors, compared to the S&P 500 which has returned 128.6%. Since the relaunch of the Kase fund three years ago, 2015 has been the first down year. The fund gained 16.6% in 2013 and 13.7% in 2014, according to a letter to investor obtained by ValueWalk.

Whitney Tilson’s 2015 performance was held back by four key positions: Canadian Pacific (-33.7%), Platform Specialty Products (-44.7%), Avis (-45.3%) and Micron (-59.6%) all of which were some of the fund’s largest winners in 2014, but due to the cyclical nature of their businesses underperformed during 2015....