[Vision2020] George Soros Slashes Exposure to US Equities

[Ted Moffett]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/7950771/George-Soros-slashes-exposure-to-US-equities.html
 George Soros slashes exposure to US equities George Soros has slashed the
amount of money he is willing to gamble on the fortunes of the US stock
market in the second quarter as market volatility increased.

By James Quinn
Published: 7:08PM BST 17 Aug 2010

The legendary investor's Soros Fund Management – which has approximately
$25bn (£16bn) under management – reduced its equity investments by 42pc to
$5.1bn by the end of June, down from $8.8bn at the end of March.

The asset allocation decisions were made during a period in which the* Standard
& Poor's 500 index – the broadest US equity index – fell
12pc<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/7939804/Markets-suffer-triple-digit-falls-on-global-economic-woes.html>
*

The fact that Mr Soros – best known as the man reputed to have made $1bn by
"breaking the Bank of England" during the 1992 fiscal crisis – has decided
to make such a concerted shift out of equities will send a clear message to
other investors.

Gone are Soros's investments in Petrobras, Brazil's oil giant, with
investments in bellwether stocks such as Wal-Mart, JP Morgan Chase and *
Pfizer*<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/7924999/Pfizer-smashes-profit-and-sales-forecasts.html>drastically
reduced, cut by 99pc, 97pc and 95pc respectively.

Of those equities that do remain, the fund's holding in a gold exchange
traded fund constitutes his largest investment, some 13pc of the equity
portfolio, worth $638m.

Although neither Mr Soros of his fund typically do not explain their
quarterly investment decisions, it is likely some of the money has been
shifted into government bonds, as well as investing in commodities and other
safe havens.

The quarterly report – filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
– details investments only in US-traded shares and related derivatives, and
the fund does not have to detail overseas shares or cash or commodities
held.

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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