John Paulson’s Paulson & Co reconsiders big bets on bank rally

John Paulson, who has been bullish on a banking rally since the economic recovery began, seems to have re-thought parts of his strategy this quarter. His multi-strategy hedge fund Paulson & Co. recently disclosed that it had significantly reduced its stakes in several large American banks, including Citigroup (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), The New York Times reports. At the end of the third quarter, Mr. Paulson cut 18% percent of his holdings in Bank of America, selling 30 million shares as their value fell 8.8%. He also sold 16% of his holdings in Citigroup, 11% of his Wells Fargo stake and 29% of his JP Morgan Chase shares.

Notably, Paulson & Co. abandoned Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) entirely as it sold out of all of its GS holdings. Paulson & Co. was founded in 1994 by current president and senior fund manager John Paulson. The hedge fund behemoth currently has $33 billion in assets.