Yahoo Finance Highlights of Paulson & Co.’s important positions in 2Q14
Highlights of Paulson & Co.'s important positions in 2Q14 (Part 1 of 7)
Paulson & Co.
Paulson & Co., founded in 1994 by John Paulson, opened new positions in 2Q 2014. In this series, we’ll discuss some of the main positions the hedge fund traded during the quarter. The fund’s U.S. long portfolio rose from $20.43 billion in 1Q 2014 to $23.08 billion in 2Q 2014.
The fund has specialized in merger arbitrage and its new positions include companies currently involved in M&A deals, namely Allergan (AGN), DIRECTV (DTV), Covidien Plc (COV), and Hillshire Brands (HSH).
Merger arbitrage is an investment strategy that primarily focuses on mergers and capturing the spreads on announced deals. For more on merger arbitrage, please read Merger arbitrage must-knows: A key guide for investors.
Notable positions sold were American Airlines Group (AAL) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD). Paulson also exited stakes in Hess Corp. (HES) and General Motors (GM), which both accounted for less than 1% of the fund’s total 1Q portfolio. The fund’s largest holding is the SPDR Gold ETF (GLD), accounting for 5.68% of the total portfolio.
A report from Bloomberg this month cited unconfirmed sources and noted that Paulson’s funds saw losses in July on the back of a decline in stock markets. The report noted that Paulson’s event-driven Advantage funds and Recovery fund are down for the year.
Browse this series on Market Realist:
