Value Aligned Research Advisors, a hedge fund built around the artificial intelligence investment theme, suffered a 44% loss in July as a sharp selloff in AI-related stocks hit crowded positions across the sector, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites an unnamed person familiar with the performance as revealing that decline reduced gains for VARA’s flagship AI Fund to about 65% for the year through July. The strategy had been up almost 200% through June, according to an investor document.
The New Jersey-based firm managed about $26.4bn at the end of June, just 16 months after launching its hedge fund operations.
Founded by Ben Hoskin and David Field, VARA focuses on companies expected to benefit from the development of transformative AI, including businesses involved in AI infrastructure, data centres and power generation.
VARA reportedly declined to comment on its performance.
VARA’s portfolio has significant overlap with that of Situational Awareness, the AI-focused hedge fund founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner.
Regulatory filings showed that the two managers held 15 common stocks at the end of March. These included CoreWeave, Bloom Energy, IREN, Applied Digital, Core Scientific and Riot Platforms.
The overlapping positions accounted for about 93% of Situational Awareness’ disclosed stock portfolio by value, compared with roughly 27% for VARA.
