Hedgefonds massiv in Financials investiert
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Hedge funds made an outsize bet on financial stocks in the second quarter, according to a closely watched report on hedge-fund holdings.
During the quarter, hedge funds increased their ownership in financial stocks by 55% to $70 billion, compared with the previous quarter. The funds now own 3.7% of the sector's market capitalization, according to a Goldman Sachs research report released Monday. That's an all-time high, the report said. Among their favorites were the big banks, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
The Goldman "Hedge Fund Trend Monitor" report adds credence to the anecdotal evidence that hedge-fund managers thought financials were undervalued during the quarter, after a rough 2008 and start to 2009. The number of funds holding Bank of America more than doubled, while 38 hedge funds took first-time positions in J.P. Morgan.
The report defined financial stocks broadly, and included sectors such as banking conglomerates, consumer finance companies and regional banks.
Hedge funds' surge into financial stocks explains some of the second-quarter run-ups in these stocks. Questions remain about how long they will stay bullish on financial stocks, and how much more money a scaled-down industry can invest in bank stocks.
John Paulson, who runs Paulson & Co., bought 168 million shares of Bank of America and 35 million of regional bank Regions Financial Corp. (RF) during the second quarter. Paulson, famous for betting against subprime and financials in 2007 and some of 2008, also increased his stake in J.P. Morgan.
Other well-known managers, including SAC Capital, Maverick Capital and TPG- Axon, bought millions of shares of one or more banks.
Goldman's research, which looks at hedge funds' end-of-quarter 13-F holdings reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, suggests that hedge funds' increased exposure was from buying in the open market, participation in equity raises, and short covering.
Net short exposure of financials rose only 8% to $63 billion, while long exposure increased 55% to $70 billion. Hedge funds were net long financials at the end of the second quarter, after being net short in the first.
The prices of most financial stocks increased even more than the overall stock market since the first quarter, so it's possible that what is now undervalued could soon be seen as overvalued. Bank of America, J.P. Morgan and Regions, the three stocks with the most new hedge-fund holders during the second quarter, were among the biggest gainers in financials.
By the second quarter's end, they owned 14% of Regions, up from just 2% at the end of the first quarter.
Among financial conglomerates, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America weren't the only ones hedge funds bought. Several hedge funds added to stakes or took first- time positions in Citigroup Inc. (C) Two such fund managers were Sandell Asset Management and Scoggin Capital.
Whether hedge funds continue buying financials depends in part on the health of the hedge-fund industry, which suffered big losses in 2008 but has made a bit of a comeback in 2009.
Redemptions at hedge funds have eased, which means fewer hedge funds have been forced to sell stocks they might have preferred holding.
"Hedge funds' selling pressures have abated," the Goldman report said, "and smaller hedge funds do not appear as pressured as some investors had feared."
Quelle: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200908251452DOWJONESDJONLINE000358_FORTUNE5.htm
Wenns schief geht, steht der Steuerzahler bereit.
Ist das wirklich so ?
Siehe folgenden Artikel und insbesondere die Grafik.
aus:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hedge-funds-have-failed-participate-equity-rally
Hedge Funds Have Failed To Participate In Equity Rally
Tyler Durden's picture
As the market continues on its steady path to the stratosphere, first it became apparent that pension funds did not participate in the run up due to their significant reduction in equity exposure around the March max pain. What might come as more of a surprise is that according to the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index (HFRXGL), even hedge funds are broadly underperforming the rally. Which is why aside from various Reuters articles claiming the contrary, hedge funds are mostly on their toes regarding their staffing decisions, as many funds are dealing with disgruntled investors who are confused why they are paying 2 and 20 for levered positions in equities when they could have generated better returns outright.
A comparison of the S&P500 with the HFRXEGL indicates that not only have hedge funds (up 8.7% YTD) failed to beat the broader market (13.5%), but the inverse gap currently is at the year's wides.
The reason for this is well known: prevalent skepticism over the actual economy, together with a disbelief in a computer and HFT driven rally (hedge funds tend to see beyond the volume of 5 financial stocks accounting for 40% of the NYSE volume), resulted in a negative turn in the February-April time frame, with either significant exposure reductions or outright deployment of new shorts.
Hedge Funds are thus faced with the triple whammy of deplorable returns in 2008, an insurmountable high water mark, and a failure to participate in the most orchestrated rally since the great depression. Furthermore, performance statistics indicate that fewer than 10% of hedge funds have recovered their losses from 2008/early 2009. So when you see Reuters articles about hedge funds hiring, take them with a big grain of salt.
@ peterg [#3]
Denke, das man hier keine falschen Schlüsse ziehen darf - weil einige große Hedge Fonds (Paulson & Co.!) in Financials investier(t)en, heißt das nicht, das alle Hedge Fonds dick an der Rally partizipierten.
Paulson hat übrigens wieder einmal goldrichtig gelegen mit Bank of America http://seekingalpha.com/article/155907-bank-of-america-is-john-paulson-s-second-largest-holding-after-gold
@ Marzell [#2]
Etwas sinnfreie Aussage, mir ist neu, das Fonds mit Bailout Geld gerettet wurden o.ä. geplant ist.
Big John setzt nun auch auf Citigroup, noch besitzt er aber weniger als 5%:
http://wallstreetpit.com/9877-john-paulson-quietly-snapping-up-citigroup-shares-report
Der Ärmste kann wirklich keinen Schritt mehr tun, ohne beobachtet zu werden - naja, bei dem Schmerzensgeld würde ich das auch auf mich nehmen, lol.
Er schrieb in seinem Ende 2008 erschienenen Investorenbericht, das er bei ausgewählten (und ausgebombten) Financials Aufwärtspotential sieht http://www.scribd.com/doc/11593471/Paulson-Funds-Annual-Report
Citigroup gehört ja zu einem Drittel Uncle Sam, pleite gehen lassen wird man die wohl nicht. Schlußkurs Freitag war 5.23 US$, was natürlich schon eine Verfünffachung bedeutet von den Tiefs Anfang 2009.