Paulson Maintains Gold Position During 2Q Despite Price Decline
(Kitco News) - Thehedge fund Paulson & Co., overseen by well-known hedge fundmanager John Paulson, stayed the course on its position in the world'slargest gold exchange-traded fund during the second quarter even though theprice of the precious metal fell, filings show.
Meanwhile,Soros Fund Management LLC has remained out of gold since exiting from itsshares of Barrick Gold Corp. in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Institutionalinvestment managers must file a Form 13F-HR, showing their major holdings, withthe Securities and Exchange Commission within 45 days of the end of thequarter. The most recent filings show holdings of funds as of the end of thesecond quarter on June 30, but do not reflect any changes that might haveoccurred since.
Paulson& Co. continued to hold 4.32 million shares in SPDR Shares Gold, theworld's largest gold ETF. During the first quarter, the fund had trimmed itsholdings modestly to this level from 4.36 million shares at the end of thefourth quarter.
However,as of June 30, the value of those shares fell to $512.6 million from $543.4million as of the end of the first quarter as the price of gold fell. Comex December gold futures lost 5.9% during the quarterto finish June at $1,266.30 an ounce. Gold ETFs trade like a stock buttrack the price of the commodity, with metal put into storage to back theshares.
Thefilings show Paulson's fund was also exposed to gold through stakes inproducers Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Goldcorp Inc., IamgoldCorp., NovaGold Resources Inc., Randgold Resources Ltd. and Seabridge Gold Inc.
One day earlier SEC filings showed that fund manager Ray Dalio'sBridgewater Associates also maintainedholdings in gold exchange-traded funds during the second quarter.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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