NEW YORK – Bridgewater Associates added shares of big banks to its portfolio in the third quarter, securities filings showed, ahead of a rally that followed Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
The hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio ended September with bigger positions in Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), and Citigroup (NYSE: C). It also built a new position in Bank of America.
Expectations that a Trump victory would bring looser regulations to the banking industry helped lift the sector in recent weeks. The KBW Bank Index is up roughly 17% since the end of September and has surged by nearly 12% since the November 5 vote.
Still, it isn’t possible to say if Bridgewater held its position past September 30, which is the cutoff date for the 13-F filings.
Though they do not reveal current holdings, the filings are one of the few ways to get a look at the portfolios of often-secretive market players such as hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds.
Bridgewater’s biggest position in dollar terms was Wells Fargo, a stake worth $79.6 million at the end of September.
Other hedge funds making bets on the banking sector included Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital Partners, which had a new $174.9 million stake in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) on September 30, a filing showed.
