Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson stuck with his holding in the biggest exchange-traded product backed by gold as prices rebounded on the escalating tension between Ukraine and Russia.
Paulson & Co., the largest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, kept its stake at 10.23 million shares as of March 31, a government filing showed yesterday. The holdings were unchanged for the third straight quarter.
Gold rose 7.9 percent in 2014, rallying after last year’s 28 percent plunge. Prices reached a six-month high in March as Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Bullion also climbed as an unusually frigid winter stymied the U.S. economy.
“Some people came back to gold betting against an improving U.S. economy, and then the Ukraine crisis also attracted some investors,” said Rob Haworth, a Seattle-based senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $120 billion.
Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,293.25 an ounce at 4:35 p.m. in Singapore. Prices jumped 6.9 percent in the first quarter.
Money managers raised bets on a gold rally by 14 percent to 102,895 futures and options as of May 6, the most since February, U.S. government data show. The holdings more than tripled last quarter.
ETP Holdings
Paulson started his foray into gold in early 2009, betting that prices would rise amid unprecedented monetary stimulus. His tone changed last year as the metal headed for the first annual decline since 2000, telling clients in November that he personally wouldn’t invest more money in his bullion fund.
Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Paulson & Co. who works for WalekPeppercomm, declined to comment on the filing.
Holdings in global ETPs backed by gold reached the lowest since 2009 on May 14. The assets tumbled 33 percent last year, wiping more than $73 billion from the value of the funds.