Soros Fund Management, the large family office that manages assets for billionaire George Soros,
raised its protection against a U.S. stock market drop dramatically,
sparking concerns that the powerful investment firm is expecting a big
fall in equities.
During the course of the second quarter, which
ended June 30, Soros Fund Management's position in puts—the right to
sell at a certain price at an appointed time in the future—in a popular
exchange-traded fund tracking the S&P 500
rose to 11.29 million shares, which appears to be a multiyear high for
the investment manager. (During the first quarter, the size of that
position was just 1.6 million puts, meaning that the second quarter
marked a 606 percent increase.)
"Hedge fund stocks have really gotten destroyed in the last three
weeks," said one long-short stock manager Friday morning. "We're in a
difficult time here."