Bridgewater increased bets on banks before election-driven rally, filing shows

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:), Wells Fargo (NYSE:), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:) and Citigroup (NYSE:). 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 Index is up roughly 17% since the end of September and has surged by nearly 12% since the Nov. 5 vote.

Still, it is not possible to say if Bridgewater held its position past Sept. 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 (WA:), which had a new $174.9 million stake in Bank of America on Sept. 30, a filing showed.