market folly

Dan Loeb's Third Point Offshore Fund finished May -2.6% and was up 3.7% year-to-date at that time.  The fund now manages $4.6 billion and has seen annualized returns of 17.1%.  Below are their top positions and latest exposures.


Third Point's Top Holdings

1. Yahoo! (YHOO)
2. Gold
3. Delphi (DLPH)
4. Apple (AAPL)
5. Sara Lee (SLE)

The hedge fund's top winners from the past month included three consumer short positions, one industrial short position, as well as a long of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.  Their top losers in the quarter included gold, YHOO, DLPH, Hess (HES), as well as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF).

We've previously posted Third Point's Q1 letter which includes their thesis on AAPL among other positions.

Their stake in Sara Lee slides into their top holdings again as this catalyst play will spin-off its coffee business at the end of June and then will  rename its remaining business Hillshire Brands to reflect its line of meat products.

In other recent activity from this hedge fund, we've highlighted that Third Point reduced its Technicolor stake as well.


Latest Exposure Levels

We've noted that throughout the first half of the year, Third Point ratcheted up net long exposure as they liked the risk/reward skew.  However, given the ramp in volatility this past month, it should come as no surprise that Third Point reduced exposure.

At the end of May, they were 31.4% net long equities (44.4% long and -13% short).  This compares to 40% net long the month prior.  During the month, they cut long exposure and increased short exposure.

Geographically, they are net long Americas at 61%, net short EMEA at -10%, and net short Asia at -3%.

They also decreased their exposure to credit.  In April they were 20.7% net long and at the end of May they were only 14.2% net long.  Of note is the fact that they increased their short bet against government securities.


Dan Loeb is featured in the new book The Alpha Masters and you can check out our review here.