Paulson and Co. Inc. Had Four Long Positions Worth More Than $1 Billion at the End of the Fourth Quarter

According to the latest Paulson and Co. Inc. 13F-HR (Q4/09), the hedge fund firm had just under $20 billion invested in 13f securities at the end of the fourth quarter.

Included in this total were four separate investments that were valued at over $1 billion at the end of Q4/09.

Let's take a quick look at these four investments.

It shouldn't surprise you, given the fact that he JUST opened a gold fund, that 2 out of 4 of Paulson's BIG investments were gold-related.

Paulson's single biggest investment was a huge position in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) that was worth nearly $3.4 billion ($3,380,265,000 to be exact) at the end of the fourth quarter. This works out to be a total stake of 31.5 million shares. *note* This position is currently worth about $3.46 billion.

Paulson's other big investment in gold was a 42,849,864 share position in Anglogold Ashanti Limited (AU). This position, worth $1,721,708,000 at the end of the fourth quarter, is now worth about $1.62 billion.

Paulson and Co. Inc's other two big billion dollar investments are both in the financial sector.

First off - Bank of America. At the end of the fourth quarter, Paulson had a 151,034,229 share position in the company (common shares) that was worth an estimated $2.27 billion. The shares have increased in value since then, and the position is now worth about $2.53 billion. *note* Paulson also owns an additional 13.76 million of the "common equivalent securities" in BAC (BACPRS) that were priced in December.

Paulson's other big position in the financial sector - Citigroup. Paulson and Co. Inc. owned a whopping 506,700,000 share position in the company that was worth nearly $1.7 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. This position has also increased in value, and is now worth about $1.8 billion.

As we mentioned yesterday, many hedge funds have been plowing into Citigroup as of late - we will definitely be keeping an eye on that stock moving forward (note: I don't own any Citigroup).

Paulson and Co. Inc. has a number of large investments (he does run one of the largest hedge fund companies in the world, after all), but Citigroup, Bank of America, SPDR Gold Trust and Anglogold Ashanti Limited are his four largest (as of the end of Q4/09).

Source: Paulson and Co. Inc. Q4 Holdings

Filed under: Hedge Fund News