When Julian Robertson speaks, the market listens. 

#-ad_banner-#After starting Tiger Management in 1980, Robertson has seen his hedge fund’s assets under management grow from $8 million to $23 billion.

Robertson is not only a great investor — he’s also a great mentor. Known as “Tiger Cubs,” many of Roberson’s former analysts have gone on to start their own hedge funds, many of which were seeded by Robertson. A few notable Tiger Cubs include Chase Coleman of Tiger Global, Stephen Mandel at Lone Pine Capital, and John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital. 

Robertson has been managing his own money (he’s currently worth an estimated $3 billion) since 2000, but he’s still very active. His investment philosophy includes a “smart idea, grounded on exhaustive research, followed by a big bet.” His current $300 million Tiger Management fund is heavily concentrated on his top ideas.

‘The Best-Run Company In The World’
Robertson’s third-largest holding is Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL), which he called one of the best-run companies in the world in a recent CNBC interview. He notes that the reason he owns such a large stake in the tech giant is that as the longtime leader in search (by a huge margin), Google has a very wide moat, one that is almost unbreachable. 

Robertson has praised Google for its ability to keep creating new products. Earlier this year, the tech giant revealed its Android mobile operating system for wearable devices, called Android Wear. He also likes Google for its investment in Uber, a service he says he uses quite frequently. Google also has an immaculate balance sheet, with virtually no debt and $85 a share in cash, equal to roughly 15% of its mammoth $374 billion market cap. 

The Biotech Play
Another favorite of Robertson’s is his second-largest holding, Gilead (Nasdsaq: GILD), which he called a “tech company in the drug sector” and touted for its drug for treating hepatitis C, cancer and AIDS. 
Robertson notes that Gilead should be getting a ton of cash from its hepatitis C drug, and that the company has done a great job of buying companies at the right price.

Not many stocks are generating positive earnings in the biotech industry, but Gilead is. Its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is a mere 10.3, and its P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio is 1.0. 

The Surprise High-Flier 
Robertson’s largest holding is Delta Airlines (NYSE: DAL), which he’s owned for a number of years — and has been by far the best performer this year among his three biggest holdings: 

As the economy rebounds, so should travel. The other big tailwind for Delta is that the industry has gotten a lot smaller over the past decade or so through consolidation. This means pricing should be more rational going forward, allowing airlines to boost profit margins. 

Delta is also becoming more shareholder-friendly: Last month, Delta said it would boost its dividend yield to 0.6% and begin a $2 billion buyback program, to be completed by the end of 2016, that would reduce its shares outstanding by roughly 6%. Delta is also compelling from a valuation standpoint: Trading at a forward P/E of 11, its PEG ratio is a low 0.5.

Risks to Consider: Google still gets over 90% of its revenue from advertising. However, mobile ads have fewer clicks and generate less revenue per click than do ads on desktop computers, so Google could see revenue decline as more consumers move from desktop to mobile. Gilead operates in the highly competitive biotech industry, and an inability to get new drugs approved could hamper growth. The airline industry is still highly competitive and is largely dependent on the broader economy. In addition, higher oil prices could squeeze the profit margins of Delta and other airlines. 

Action to Take –> Robertson has over a quarter of his fund concentrated in these three stocks. All three look to be solid investments in their respective industries. All are near their 52-week highs, but they appear to have enough momentum to set new highs in the near term.

The only thing better than investing in high-quality companies is investing in high-quality companies that return money directly to shareholders. In our latest research, we’ve found 13 market-dominating companies that have been hoarding billions in cash since the financial crisis — and they’re set to pay out $39.5 billion in dividends in 2014 alone. To get access to the names and ticker symbols of some of these companies, simply view this special report.