Tiger Global Management founder Chase Coleman, whose firm was stung by last year’s tech rout, said the sector now looks attractive thanks to artificial intelligence and other new technologies.

“Technology is interesting again,” said Coleman, speaking in front of a few hundred guests at the Boys’ Club of New York’s annual luncheon in Manhattan on Tuesday. He said to buy FAANGs, the acronym for mega-cap tech companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., when a guest asked the event’s speakers for stock tips.

Last year the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 33%, buffeted by inflation and rising interest rates.

Tiger Global fared much worse. The firm slashed the value of its venture funds by a third last year, while its hedge and long-only funds tumbled 56% and 67%, respectively. This year the index has bounced back—it’s up 16% so far—and Coleman is enthusiastic about the sector’s prospects. 

He said that while tech companies “have been in their own version of recession for almost a year,” 2023 is presenting new opportunities thanks to “pretty interesting new technology” like AI. 

“Think about it in terms of companies investing in these technologies, and how well they use it,” he said, giving the example of Amazon using ChatGPT to facilitate shopping. “It’s going to be gradual. Be patient.”  

Remembering Robertson
Coleman fielded the question of what stocks to buy from 16-year-old Edgar Azuara, a Boys’ Club of New York member from East Harlem. But Azuara got more than investing tips out of the event. 

Coleman shared the stage with other famed fund managers who offered insights and lessons learned working for legendary investor Julian Robertson, who died in August. 

Coleman said Robertson taught him “the importance of going long DNA and short experience. He did not care how old you were, what your background was, how many at-bats you had—it was all about the quality of the idea.” 

Coleman’s fellow panelists were John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital, Robert Pitts of Steadfast Capital and Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital, all of whom worked at Robertson’s Tiger Management. 

Other attendees included Tiger Global’s Scott Shleifer and Bobby Fallon; Thorpe McKenzie, who co-founded Tiger Management with Julian in 1980; Gil Caffray, who worked as chief investment officer for Tiger; and Tiger Williams, who worked as a trader there.

The event raised more than $2 million for the Boys’ Club, which Robertson and his late wife Josie supported for decades. 

—With assistance from Hema Parmar.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.