The steep slide in financial stocks was on the whole lucrative for short sellers. Many hedge funds continue to bet against financials. But some big funds are playing the contrarian in this tough market, among them Andreas Halvorsen’s $9 billion Viking Global Investors LP.

 Viking appears to favor asset managers. It bought into a fellow hedge fund, the publicly traded Och-Ziff Capital Management. It held State Street and owns more than 5% of Invesco Ltd.

 At first glance, Invesco looks battered. Net income was down the first quarter. But Viking’s analysts are known for insight into company fundamentals—presumably, that’s how they made 40% plus last year. They must see something really good in Invesco.

 Invesco has made interesting acquisitions, among them private equity and hedge fund business WL Ross & Co. The company is preparing for an initial public offering of real estate investment trust Invesco Agency Securities. Assets under management declined from 2008 but the trend has been upward in recent months.

Financials are one of Viking’s specialties. It’s going to be interesting to watch what happens to the contrarian long trades.

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