Paulson raised bet on mortgage insurers in 1st quarter

BOSTON, May 15 (Reuters) Billionaire investor uk canada goose John Paulson bet more heavily on mortgage insurers cheap canada goose uk during the first quarter, which suggests that his hedge fund canada goose store expects the housing recovery to grow stronger in the months ahead.

Between January and the end of March, according canada goose clearance sale to a canada goose clearance regulatory filing, Paulson New canada goose uk black friday York based Paulson Co took a Canada Goose Outlet new canada goose black friday sale position of 17 million shares in mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. He Canada Goose Jackets raised his stakes in two other mortgage insurers, more cheap Canada Goose than tripling his holdings in Radian Group Inc to 11.5 million shares from 3.5 million shares, and raising his holdings in Canada Goose online Genworth Canada Goose Parka Financial Inc to 9 million shares from 3.9 million shares. Securities buy canada goose jacket cheap and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. While such filings are backward canada goose coats looking and do not Canada Goose Online always reflect what a manager owns now, they do often point to trends.

Paulson $18 billion, New uk canada goose outlet York based hedge fund is well known for having bet against the overheated housing market several coats years ago. Now Paulson is clearly betting that growth will improve and that a strong recovery in the housing market will continue.

While the 13 F filings do not show exactly which of Paulson portfolios own these names, their stock price gains this year likely fueled the strong run in Paulson $1.9 billion Recovery fund.

The portfolio gained 14 percent during the first quarter and surged more canada goose uk outlet to be up 21 percent through the end of April, marking one of the very best performances in the industry, where funds canada goose factory sale on average have gained only roughly 5 percent this year.

Paulson best known buy canada goose jacket funds including the Advantage funds, which lost money in 2012 and 2011 got off to a strong start in 2013. The Advantage Plus fund was up 8.3 percent during the first quarter while the Paulson Credit Opportunities fund was up 10.4 percent, and merger arbitrage funds Paulson International and Paulson Enhanced gained 5.5 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, people familiar with the numbers said.

In the tight knit hedge fund industry, Paulson is largely known as a merger arbitrage specialist and during the first canada goose coats on sale quarter he took on new positions where he Canada Goose Coats On Sale might see canadian goose jacket an event in the future that would push up the share price.

On the other hand, the regulatory filing showed that he cut some stakes as well, including Hartford Financial Canada Goose sale Services Group. The fund owned canadagoosejacketsalesca 10 million Hartford shares at the end of the first quarter, down from 18 million shares. He also cut his canada goose uk shop stake in Delphi Automotive by 36 percent to 8.7 million shares.

Meanwhile Paulson, who has long owned gold and gold miners in part because canada goose he believes that inflation will eventually pick up again in light of the easy money policies of central banks, kept his stakes in the miners largely steady, the filing shows.

Paulson gold oriented fund, where his own money makes up the bulk of the roughly $500 million in assets, dropped 28 percent during the quarter and tumbled more in April, people familiar with the returns said.