Stephen Mandel, who started Lone Pine Capital two decades ago and boasts one of the best long-term track records in the hedge fund industry, is stepping back from day-to-day portfolio management in January 2019.
Mr. Mandel told investors in a letter that David Craver, Mala Gaonkar and Kelly Granat will continue to manage the portfolio, a role the Lone Pine founder has shared since 2003. The only sector he oversees himself is health-care stocks.
Mr. Mandel, who left Julian Robertson's Tiger Management in 1997 to open his own shop, joins a growing list of hedge fund managers planning for succession. Ray Dalio has been plotting the handover of Bridgewater Associates to his lieutenants for much of the last decade. Seth Klarman, founder of Baupost Group, had one successor leave his firm in 2012, and last year took another stab at elevating a deputy.
Mr. Mandel, whose main fund has returned an annualized 19.5% since starting in 1997, told investors that he will still be involved in researching investment ideas, including meeting with companies' management, and coach Lone Pine's investment team. He will also sit on the firm's management committee. He will keep all of his family's liquid assets in Lone Pine.
Lone Pine, which oversaw $25 billion at the end of last year, will also consolidate its three hedge funds into a single strategy in January 2019.
Ms. Gaonkar and Mr. Craver have been at Lone Pine almost from the beginning, according to an SEC filing. Ms. Granat joined several years later.
Shawn Pattison, a spokesman for the firm, declined to comment.