Dalios Bridgewater Boosts Gold Holdings

(November 14, 2017 - by Luzi-Ann Javier)

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio didn’t just recommend gold last quarter. He bought a lot of it.

As of the end of September, Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, had boosted its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares almost seven-fold, and more than tripled its stake on iShares Gold Trust, a regulatory filing showed Monday.

Hedge funds and other investors poured a combined $672 million last quarter into SPDR Gold, the largest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, and $764 million into iShares Gold. That helped send prices of the metal to a one-year high in September. Buyers sought havens amid escalating U.S.-North Korea tensions, Mexico’s strongest earthquake in a century and destructive hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

In August, Dalio recommended investors consider placing 5 percent to 10 percent of their assets in gold, citing political and economic risks. Bridgewater added 3.32 million shares in SPDR Gold in the third quarter, taking holdings to 3.89 million, a regulatory filing showed Monday. The hedge fund also boosted its stake in iShares Gold by 8.2 million shares to 11.3 million, according to the filing.

Filings released this month don’t include hedge funds’ current position, which may have changed since the end of the quarter. Prices of the precious metal have slipped about 0.1 percent this quarter.

Since the end of September, SPDR has seen outflows of $864 million as the rally in gold lost momentum. iShares Gold were more appealing to investors, attracting $363.54 million so far this quarter.

Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in the U.S. must file a Form 13F within 45 days of each quarter’s end to list those stocks as well as options and convertible bonds. The filings don’t show non-U.S. securities, holdings that aren’t publicly traded, or cash.