Paulson suffers 9pc loss on star Advantage fund
JOHN Paulson, the hedge fund boss who made billions of dollars shorting sub-prime mortgages in 2007, has seen one of his portfolios fall nearly nine per cent this year.
Paulson Advantage, an arbitrage fund geared to benefit from mergers and acquisitions, lost 6.9 per cent in June and 8.8 per cent in the first half, according to Bloomberg. Paulson was hit by his bullish position in financial stocks during market nervousness over banks’ Eurozone sovereign debt exposure and disappointing US economic data.
The news will surprise the industry as Advantage was one of Paulson’s star performers throughout the darkest days of the financial crisis. It gained 37.6 per cent in 2008 and ended 2009 in positive territory.
Paulson’s firm, which runs around $35bn (£23bn), declined to comment.