soros fund management buys new stakes in financials soros fund management, the firm that investsthe personal fortune of billionaire investor and philanthropist george soros, took a handfulof new positions in financial stocks during the fourth quarter as the sector was buoyedby donald trump's presidential victory. the new york-based firm disclosed a $14.9million position in goldman sachs (gs.n) and
aapl shares, made a new bet on bank of america (bac.n)worth $3.9 million. one of its biggest buys during the last threemonths of 2016 was a call option on the s&p select sector spdr fund - financial sectorworth $72.6 million. a number of asset managers bought into financialstocks during the final months of 2016 after
trump's surprise victory suggested that taxcuts and a reduction of regulatory burdens plus higher interest rates could benefit thefinancial sector. soros recently hired ubs executive dawn fitzpatrickto be the firm's chief investment officer, putting a woman in charge of his portfoliofor the first time. soros sold his entire stake in procter & gamble(pg.n), while trian fund management bought a stake worth $3.5 billion in the company. berkshire takes huge bite of apple, boostsairline stakes warren buffett's berkshire hathaway inc (brka.n)was an aggressive buyer of stocks in last year's fourth quarter, nearly quadruplingits stake in apple inc (aapl.o) and increasing
its stake sevenfold in the four biggest u.s.airlines. in a regulatory filing, berkshire reportedowning 57.4 million shares of apple as of dec. 31, which would now be worth $7.74 billion,up from just from 15.2 million shares in the iphone maker three months earlier. berkshire also reported a $9.3 billion airlinestake, with investments topping $2.1 billion in each of american airlines group inc (aal.o),delta air lines inc (dal.n), southwest airlines co (luv.n) and united continental holdingsinc (ual.n). it also disclosed new stakes in satelliteradio company sirius xm holdings inc (siri.o) and seed company monsanto co (mon.n), whichis being bought by germany's bayer ag (baygn.de).
though it is unclear who make which investments,the filing appears to reflect much of the $12 billion of stock that buffett said hehad bought between the nov. 8 presidential election and the end of january. larger berkshire investments such as wellsfargo & co (wfc.n), coca-cola co (ko.n) and international business machines corp (ibm.n)are normally buffett's, but the 86-year-old billionaire has given his deputies todd combsand ted weschler more to invest over the years. berkshire's initial investment in apple gotattention last year, given buffett's usual aversion to technology companies - apart fromibm - which he considers outside his zone of competence.
the new, larger stake makes berkshire oneof apple's 10 biggest investors. "i'm stunned to see the size of that appleposition," said thomas russo, who oversees $11 billion of assets, including 12 percentin berkshire, at gardner russo & gardner in lancaster, pennsylvania. berkshire did not respond to a request forcomment. the omaha, nebraska-based conglomerate alsoowns roughly 90 companies such as the bnsf railroad, geico car insurance and dairy queenice cream. its class a shares closed on tuesday up $2,078.95at $250,419, a record high closing price and less than 0.2 percentage points below itsall-time high on dec. 14.
apple becomes core holding the plunge into apple appears particularlywell-timed. shares of apple closed on tuesday up $1.73at $135.02, also a record closing high. assuming berkshire has not sold its stake,apple's 16.6 percent gain this year would leave it with a $1.1 billion paper profitin 2017 alone. it had been widely believed that berkshire'sinitial investment came from combs or weschler. but their decisions have sometimes influencedbuffett, as when berkshire last year paid $32.1 billion for aircraft parts maker precisioncastparts corp, once a combs investment. "it's quite possible that warren woke up andbegan to understand the virtues of apple that
he had been neglecting or, like with precisioncastparts, todd or ted had an affinity for apple that sparked interest from warren,"russo said. combs and weschler are the leading candidatesto eventually succeed buffett as berkshire's chief investment officer. the airline investments, meanwhile, suggestthat buffett has overcome his two-decade aversion to the sector after an unhappy - though, hehas said, profitable - investment in us air group. buffett told talk show host charlie rose inan interview last month that it was "in large part" his decision to dive back into airlines.
"the industry was once balkanized, but nowit is bulking up, and has come to realize that an empty seat is a perishable asset,"russo said. "more planes are traveling more full." shares of american, delta, southwest and united,as well as apple, monsanto and sirius, rose in after-hours trading. such increases often occur when investorsperceive that berkshire has given a company its imprimatur. monsanto and sirius did not immediately respondto requests for comment. to make room for new investments, berkshireappeared to have shed a $1.8 billion stake
in agricultural equipment maker deere & co(de.n) and nearly all of what remained from a more than decade-old stake in retailer wal-martstores inc (wmt.n). trian takes $3.5 billion stake in procter& gamble trian fund management lp disclosed a $3.5billion stake in procter & gamble co (pg.n) on tuesday, taking aim at the maker of pampersdiapers as it moves to boost sales and shed unprofitable brands. trian's stake is the activist investor's largestever position in a company and comes at a time when p&g's efforts to slim down has struggledto boost its stock much beyond where it traded two years ago.
moving to focus more on core products, includingtide detergent and gillette razors, the company sold 41 of its brands last year, includingclairol and covergirl, to coty inc (coty.n) for $12.5 billion. (reut.rs/2jfl6nv) but with a market value of $225 billion, cincinnati'sp&g remains an industry behemoth that trian will likely want to shrink even further. "(trian)could argue that the brand sales ... didnot go far enough to create a faster growing company," said clsa analyst caroline levy,adding that p&g's beauty business could perform better as a standalone company.
"continued share losses in many categories,especially skin care, point to a need for faster change." p&g spokesman damon jones said trian's filingwas the first knowledge the company had of the investor's position. "p&g welcomes investment in our company. we will continue to do what we always do,"jones told reuters. trian's stake makes it the second activistin five years to target the company. pershing square capital management investedin p&g in 2012, calling for the ouster of its then ceo, robert mcdonald.
mcdonald was replaced a year later, and inmay 2014, pershing exited the position. p&g's stock closed at $87.86 on tuesday, afew dollars above where it traded this time big move trian, founded in 2005 by nelson peltz, edgarden and peter may, focuses mainly on consumer brand companies, industrial firms, and financialcompanies. the new york-based firm is known for makinglarge investments in a small amount of companies where it pushes for board representation andstrategic moves that will increase revenues while reducing expenses. peltz, whose firm did not disclose a singlenew investment last year, hinted in december
that trian was building a new position. the tip set off wide speculation on wheretrian was aiming - a guessing game among bankers and investors that was put to rest on tuesday. p&g's deadline for nominating directors tothe company's board is june 13, according to its proxy. should trian pursue board representation,the two sides have four months to work out an agreement before the activist would needto launch its own director slate. but it is unclear what trian's intentionsare at the moment. p&g usually holds its annual meeting in october.
the company reported better-than-expectedquarterly sales last month, with its health care unit, which sells oral-b and vicks, beingits best performing business. it warned that it would reduce overall salesgrowth in 2017 by 2 to 3 percentage points. the health care and beauty business, whichhouses brands like head & shoulders and olay, together accounted for about 30 percent ofp&g's total sales.
