11/19/09 Stockholm, Sweden – Paulson is launching a new pure-play gold-focused hedge fund with $250 million of his $6 billion personal fortune. The current president of Paulson & Co is already famous for earning $3.7 billion on the subprime meltdown.
Some question his timing, and why he’d begin a fund right now given that the precious metal is at all time highs well over $1,100. He, however, must be confident given that his own money is at stake on this new yellow wager. Paulson has a consistent record of buying assets at low valuations, so presumably he believes that gold’s also undervalued right now.
The fund will invest in both miners and other assets tied to the price of gold, and he has experience in the sector. He already has about $3 billion of Paulson & Co’s money under management invested in gold-related assets.
More details are available from the Telegraph in its coverage of John Paulson’s new gold fund.
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When Paulson realized that the gold backing GLD has either already been sold to cover the short positions of the bullion banks, or consists of tungsten bars with gold plating, he quietly got out and is trying something safer. Heck I don’t know, but I do fear these things about GLD.
GLD and its kindred SLV strike me as only useful for speculation. What do you really own, the gold or the paper? Its fine if you have spare money to play and trade on the volatility, but if you want safety nothing beats having the physical.