SEC Filing Summary: Piper Jaffray Companies (13F-HR)
Business Context and Reporting Period
Reporting Manager: Piper Jaffray Companies (formerly Piper Sandler Companies)
Filing Type: Form 13F-HR (Holdings Report)
Reporting Period: Quarter ended March 31, 2006
Filing Date: April 28, 2006
Location: Minneapolis, MN
This filing discloses the institutional investment manager's holdings in equity securities as of the end of the first quarter of 2006. The report covers 1,789 distinct investment entries.
Key Financial Metrics
Total Portfolio Value: $583,838,000 (Reported in thousands)
Total Number of Holdings: 1,789 entries
Investment Discretion: The manager reported Sole Discretion for the vast majority of holdings, with some Shared Discretion noted in specific entries.
Top Holdings by Value (Selected):
- General Electric Co: $6,558,000 (188,556 shares)
- Procter & Gamble Co: $6,592,000 (114,382 shares)
- Starbucks Corp: $7,635,000 (202,884 shares)
- Microsoft Corp: $5,085,000 (186,885 shares)
- Citigroup Inc: $5,442,000 (115,229 shares)
- Sei Investments Co: $5,094,000 (125,677 shares)
- Valassis Communications Inc: $2,310,000 (78,650 shares)
- Powerwave Technologies Inc (Note): $4,432,000 (Principal Amount $3,317,000)
Note: Form 13F filings do not disclose revenue, profit, cash flow, margins, debt, or liquidity metrics for the reporting manager itself. They only disclose the market value of reported securities.
Material Changes and Portfolio Composition
Asset Class Mix: The portfolio is heavily weighted toward large-cap U.S. equities, with significant exposure to technology, healthcare, consumer staples, and financial services. There is also a notable allocation to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), particularly iShares and PowerShares, indicating a strategy that blends active stock picking with passive index exposure.
Derivatives and Debt: The filing includes holdings in corporate notes (e.g., Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Corp, WebMD Corp) and options (Put/Call positions noted for companies like Atheros, Elan, and Red Hat).
Comparison to Prior Period: The provided text does not contain data for the prior quarter (December 31, 2005); therefore, material changes in position size or new entries versus the prior period cannot be calculated from this document alone.
Guidance, Outlook, and Risks
Management Commentary: Form 13F filings are statutory disclosures of holdings and do not contain management commentary, forward-looking guidance, or strategic outlooks.
Risks and Contingencies: No specific risk factors or contingencies are disclosed in this form. The concentration of holdings in specific sectors (e.g., Technology, Healthcare) implies sector-specific market risk.
Unusual Items: The portfolio includes significant positions in closed-end funds and specialized trusts (e.g., Nicholas-Applegate funds, Pimco funds, Nuveen funds), suggesting a strategy that utilizes alternative investment vehicles alongside direct equity ownership.
Investor Verification Checklist
- Portfolio Concentration: Verify the top 10 holdings to assess concentration risk relative to the total $583.8 million portfolio.
- Derivative Exposure: Review the specific Put/Call positions (e.g., Elan, Atheros, Red Hat) to understand hedging strategies or directional bets not fully captured by the equity value alone.
- Debt Holdings: Confirm the status of the corporate notes held (e.g., WebMD, Powerwave) as these represent fixed-income exposure within an equity filing.
- ETF Overlap: Analyze the iShares and PowerShares holdings to determine if they duplicate exposure already held in direct stock positions.
- Shared Discretion: Investigate the specific entries marked "Shared" discretion to understand co-management arrangements.