John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who pocketed as much as $3 billion last year on bets against subprime mortgages, was shaken by a tough July – though not by much, according to performance data obtained by The Post.
Of Paulson’s six hedge funds, the hardest hit was one of two merger arbitrage funds, which dropped 3.7 percent for the month, The Post has learned.
The top performing funds were the firm’s two credit funds, which were largely flat, returning 0.2 percent and 1 percent for the month, that data show.
Paulson was likely hit by bets against financial stocks, but he was saved by having little or no exposure to energy, according to people familiar with his funds. The merger funds were likely hurt on bets that Microsoft would resume merger talks with Yahoo!
Shares of Yahoo! have fallen significantly since Paulson announced a stake of 50 million shares in May.
Experts predict July will be the worst month for hedge funds since the tech bubble burst in 2000 as investors got pummeled as the markets reversed course, sending shares of beleaguered Wall Street firms higher and energy prices down.