Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who cut his gold holdings by more than half in the second quarter, maintained his bet on the metal over the next three months as prices rebounded.

Paulson & Co., the largest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded product for the metal, held 10.23 million shares as of Sept. 30, unchanged from June 30, according to a government filing yesterday. Billionaire George Soros took a stake in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF.

Global bullion demand tumbled 21 percent last quarter as investors pulled 118.7 metric tons out of ETFs and similar products, World Gold Council data show. Prices that fell into a bear market in April have rebounded 9.2 percent since reaching a 34-month low on June 28 as purchases of coins and jewelry rose. The metal is still headed for its first annual loss since 2000 as equities rallied and inflation failed to accelerate after Federal Reserve purchases of assets in the debt markets to enhance its policy of easy credit.

“The big sell off we saw earlier this year drove several investors away, and now some players are picking and choosing how they would like to invest in gold,” Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $3.5 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC, said by telephone. “The worst may be over, but the outlook remains bearish, and it’s not a sought after sector.”

Gold futures in New York declined 23 percent this year to $1,282.70 an ounce, outpacing the 4.6 percent drop for the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodities. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities climbed 17 percent, and the Bloomberg Dollar Index gained 3.4 percent. The Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index declined 2.3 percent.

Paulson Cuts

Paulson maintained his SPDR holdings after a second-quarter reduction from 21.8 million shares at the end of March. Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Paulson & Co. with WalekPeppercomm, declined to comment on the filing.

Global gold ETP holdings tumbled 29 percent this year, reaching the lowest since 2010 this week, while more than $64 billion was wiped from the assets, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Prices are down 33 percent since reaching a record $1,923.70 in September 2011 as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and amid concern that the Fed will begin trimming its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases.

Paulson’s PFR Gold Fund fell 16 percent in September, bringing the 2013 decline in the $350 million fund to 62 percent, according to a report to investors obtained by Bloomberg News in October.

‘High Inflation’

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