In Depth: The Alibaba IPO

Four-star fund manager passes on Alibaba IPO

Apple, Google & Alibaba
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Apple, Google & Alibaba

Wall Street has been abuzz as Alibaba Group prepares to go public on Friday in what could be the biggest stock sale in U.S. history. As it turns out, though, not every money manager is salivating over the Chinese Internet giant's IPO.



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"Typically what we do with these popular IPOs, we wait a long time. Sometimes we'll wait years to get it at our price," David Rolfe, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Wedgewood Partners of the RiverPark/Wedgewood fund, told CNBC on Wednesday.

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The Hangzhou, China-based Internet retailer raised its expected price range on Monday to $66 to $68 a share from $60 to $66 a share. Alibaba will set its final expected price range on Thursday, and its stock will debut under ticker symbol BABA on Friday.

"If Alibaba is a true great growth story for the next 10, 15 years, we'll have plenty of time to get into it," Rolfe, a Morningstar-rated four-star fund manager, said on "Squawk Alley."

Rolfe pointed to Google as example of how patience paid off, saying it "took us about two to three years to get in."

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"Inevitably, these companies are going to disappoint," he said. "And then we wait to try to swing a fat bat at a fat pitch."

—By CNBC's Drew Sandholm