Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater has amped up his bet against European stocks by some 500%.
Bridgewater earlier this month disclosed a range of short bets in excess of €1.5bn, according to analysis of regulatory filings by research firm Breakout Point. The hedge fund’s most recent filings show that it now holds close to €9bn in short positions.
Bridgewater’s short of Bayer BAYN, -1.43% has grown to 0.62% of the health company’s stock, up from 0.51%. A rough estimate based on current market capitalisation would value the short position at €380m. Similar increases were seen in its shorts of Allianz ALV, -1.93%, Santander SAN, -2.92% and BASF BAS, -2.33%.
“Given the deterioration in fundamentals and high inflation I am not surprised that they feel that this may be the beginning rather than the end of the correction,” said Patrick Ghali, co-founder of London hedge fund advisory firm Sussex Partners.
The hedge fund also further disclosed short positions in new stocks including software giant SAP, manufacturer Siemens and Adidas. SAP’s market cap of more than €100bn means the fund’s 0.54% short position would total more than €500m.
Between 13 and 17 June, Bridgewater disclosed 26 short positions in excess of 0.5% of a company’s stock.
An expanded version of this story is available at FNLondon.com