Renaissance, Adage Capital bet on First Republic in Q1 before its collapse

First Republic Bank

15/05/2023 18:00

By David Randall and Carolina Mandl
       NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Jim
Simons' Renaissance Technologies LLC was among the prominent
funds that took positions in embattled regional bank First
Republic Bank  FRCB.PK  during the first quarter ahead of the
firm's May 1 collapse, according to securities filings released
on Monday.
    Renaissance Technologies LLC, which has more than $100
billion in assets under management, bought approximately 7.1
million shares of First Republic during the first quarter and
held them as of March 31, when they closed at $13.99 per share.
    The securities fillings did not show whether the firm sold
any of its position before the firm's May 1 seizure by
regulators, making it the largest bank failure since the 2008
financial crisis.     
    Boston-based Adage Capital Partners, meanwhile, added a new
position of approximately 185,000 shares of First Republic
during the quarter, while New York-based Alpine Global
Management LP added a new position of approximately 1.7 million
shares in the company, filings showed.
    Renaissance Technologies, Adage Capital and Alpine Global
did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
    The positions were revealed in quarterly securities fillings
known as 13-fs. While backward looking, these snapshots show
what funds owned on the last day of the quarter and are one of
the few ways that hedge funds and other institutional investors
have to declare their positions. They may not reflect current
holdings.
        Among prominent sellers of First Republic’s stock was
Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest
hedge funds, which closed its position in the firm amid a broad
portfolio shift away from financial firms. 
  
    The fund liquidated its positions in big U.S. banks
including Bank of America Corp  BAC.N , Goldman Sachs Group Inc
 GS.N , and Morgan Stanley  MS.N , while selling regional banks
including PacWest Bancorp  PACW.O  and PNC Financial Services
Group Inc  PNC.N . 

 (Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and
Marguerita Choy)
 ((David.Randall@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6607; Reuters
Messaging: david.randall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))