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Soros Fund Management doubles bet against the S&P 500 in first quarter

May 17, 2016 at 05:26 am IST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros, who has been warning that the 2008 financial crisis could be repeated due to China's economic slowdown, on Monday disclosed his doubled wager against the S&P 500 in the first quarter.

Soros Fund Management said it owned a 2.1-million-share "put" option in the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund (ETF) which tracks the benchmark U.S. stock index. That was up from about 1 million shares in the option in the fourth quarter, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Soros also disclosed owning 51,700 shares in the ETF, up from 8,1000 shares in the fourth quarter.

Put options, generally considered bearish bets, give the holder the right to sell shares at a specific price by a certain date. Calls, generally considered bullish bets, give the holder the right to buy shares at a specific price.

Hedge-fund SEC disclosures are backward-looking and come out 45 days after the end of each quarter. Still, the filings offer a glimpse into what hedge fund managers saw as investment opportunities.

In the first quarter, Soros, who once called gold "the ultimate bubble," resumed buying the precious metal after a three-year hiatus, adding 1.05 million shares in SPDR Gold Trust , the world's biggest gold exchanged-traded fund, valued at about $123.5 million.

A spokesman for Soros declined to comment.

(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Richard Chang)

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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 the principal asset manager for the Open Society Foundations (Open Society) – a private funder of independent groups that works for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.	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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