Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they've bought and sold. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.
Today, let's look at one of the biggest hedge fund companies, Eton Park, founded by Eric Mindich in 2004. Mindich had spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs before that, becoming, at age 27, its youngest partner. Mindich invests in both long and short positions on stocks and in private equity investments, and he specializes in merger arbitrage. He reportedly nearly tripled the value of Eton Park in its first seven years, but the fund has posted some bumpy results lately, leading some shareholders to pull out.
The company's stock portfolio totaled almost $7 billion in value as of December 31, 2011.
Interesting developments
So what does Eton Park's latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details:
New holdings include Bank of America
Among holdings in which Eton Park increased its stake were El Paso
Eton Park reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Williams
Finally, Eton Park unloaded several companies entirely, such as E*TRADE Financial
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We should never blindly copy any investor's moves, no matter how talented the investor. But it can be useful to keep an eye on what smart folks are doing. 13-F forms can be great places to find intriguing candidates for our portfolios.