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, -1.14% 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, -1.75%, Santander SAN, -2.57% and BASF BAS, -1.90%.
“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.