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Some Soros Fund holdings may profit if stocks fall: SEC filings

August 14, 2017 at 07:35 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Soros Fund Management LLC, whose billionaire chairman said earlier this year that markets would stumble given the uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump, recently held positions that could profit if the financial markets falter, U.S. regulatory filings showed on Monday.

George Soros in January said at his annual media dinner held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that "it's impossible to predict" Trump's actions but that he was nonetheless "convinced that he is going to fail."

Soros Fund Management held put options on PowerShares QQQ Trust (>> PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF)), SPDR S&P 500 ETF (>> SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) and iShares Russell 2000 ETF (>> iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF)) as of June 30, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Each is an exchange-traded fund that tracks a broad U.S. stock market index.

Puts profit when the equity they are tied to decline in value.

The Soros puts, valued at nearly $1.8 billion, are three of the four largest single holdings on the disclosure.

Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Soros Fund Management, said the company would not comment beyond what was outlined in the filing.

The quarterly disclosures of asset manager stock holdings, in what are known as 13F filings with the SEC, offer clues on what big investors are selling and buying, but give no indication of their current stakes.

They offer an incomplete take on an investor's portfolio, including the precise profit-and-loss dimensions of their options. The options could merely be used to limit the risk of another, more consequential, holding in the portfolio.

In Soros' specific case, the SPY put could be offset by a long position in the ETF valued at $2.7 million and a call option valued at nearly $50 million. Profits on calls increase along with the equity they are held against.

Soros, who founded Soros Fund Management and now is chairman of the New York-based firm, has donated millions of dollars to groups supporting Democrats.

He famously made huge profits in 1992 betting against the British pound as it crashed below the preset level and had to be withdrawn from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Diane Craft)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

Stocks treated in this article : PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF), SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF)

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	NASDAQ 100	17,394 PTS	-0.57%	-3.43%	-
	RUSSELL 2000	1,943 PTS	-0.26%	-4.88%	-

George Soros

George Soros lived the Hungary’s Nazi occupation. With Jewish origin, he was forced to change his name in 1936 (György Schwartz). He escapes from communist regime in 1947, and he arrives in Great Britain. In London he follows the philosopher anti communist Karl Kopper’s courses at London School of Economics. In 1956 he emigrated to United States with one objective in mind: to win half million dollars. Mission completed, in 2011 his fortune amounted to $14,5 billion and he was the 46th richest man in the world, according to Forbes.

When he had arrived in New York he founded his first investment fund The Soros Fund, which will be the first stone of Soros’ financial empire. In 1973 he founded Quantum Fund with Jim Rogers. For ten years this fund will break all records in terms of gains.

The most of people know him during the great depression of 1992. He speculated on sterling’s fall, and he caused important fluctuations such as the British currency was forced out of the monetary system. This bet allowed him to earn a billion in one night and he was called as “the man who broken the Bank of England”.

He is also a philanthropist. With Open Society Institute which group together twenty foundations with a goal to defend human rights and promote democratic governance. George Soros describes himself as a “stateless head of state”. Since 1984, thanks to his foundations he distributed more than $ 8 billion to various humanitarian causes in 70 countries around the world.

The man, who wanted to be a philosopher, thanks to his foundation he participates in the transformation of society. The speculator has become the destroyer of excessive liberalism.

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Soros Fund Management LLC Soros Fund Management LLC Investment ManagersFinance Soros Fund Management LLC (SFM) is a privately-held investment management firm now structured as a family office, but which was once a hedge fund manager. The firm was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in New York City. SFM serves as principal investment adviser to a group of funds managed for the benefit of Soros family cl fsients.	Founder
Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations Investment Trusts/Mutual FundsMiscellaneous The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each Soros foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.	Founder

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