market folly

Andreas Halvorsen's hedge fund firm Viking Global has filed a regulatory short position disclosure in France and indicated they have a net short position in shares of Peugeot S.A.

Per the disclosure, Viking Global has a net short position totaling 0.55% of Peugeot's shares as of July 17th, 2015. 

While it's hard to determine whether this is an alpha short or merely a hedge to one of their long positions, the EU's short selling disclosure requirements provide a glimpse into the side of a hedge fund's portfolio that's often not seen.

Short selling disclosures in various European Union countries require institutional investors to publicly disclose a net short position after it reaches 0.5% of the issued share capital of the company and again with each 0.1% increment in the position (either positive or negative).

Stay tuned this week and next as we'll be posting a comprehensive update of short positions at prominent hedge funds.  We also just posted about how Lone Pine is short Rolls Royce.

Per Google Finance, Peugeot is "a holding company passenger cars and light commercial vehicles business. The Company operates in three segments: the Automotive Division, covering the design, manufacture and sale of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands; the Automotive Equipment Division, corresponding to the Faurecia Group consisting of interior systems, automotive seating, automotive exteriors and emissions control technologies, and the Finance Division, corresponding to the Banque PSA Finance Group, which provides retail financing to customers of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, and wholesale financing to the two brands' dealer networks. Banque PSA Finance (BPF) is a financial institution. BPF also provides wholesale financing, and insurance and services."