added to its investment position in
Apple Inc and is waiting for the
company's "next blockbuster product,"
Einhorn said on Tuesday.
In a conference call for his Cayman
Islands-based reinsurer Greenlight
Capital Re Ltd, Einhorn did not specify
when the hedge fund added to its
Apple position or the size of its current
holdings.
At the end of 2012, the $8.8 billion
Greenlight Capital held 1.3 million
Apple shares, according to a
regulatory filing. At the market close
on Monday, the shares were worth
about $600 million.
Einhorn, one of the $2 trillion hedge
fund industry's most closely watched
investors, had been pushing Apple to
return some of its massive cash pile to
investors.
He said Apple's roughly 17 percent
stock price decline in the first quarter
led to the biggest loss in the
Greenlight investment portfolio in the
period.
He added, however, that Apple took a
"major step forward" by issuing $17
billion in bonds on April 30, and that
its recent plan to return $100 billion to
shareholders via an increase in its
dividend and share buybacks is a
"vastly more shareholder-friendly"
policy than it had a few months ago.
"We've added to our Apple position.
Now we just wait for the release of
Apple's next blockbuster product,"
Einhorn said.
The hedge fund manager, who has a
bullish stance on gold, said he was
"somewhat surprised" by the decline
in gold prices in April. Over a two-
week stretch last month, the price of
gold fell 17 percent. It plunged $125
on April 15, its biggest-ever daily loss.
But Einhorn said the recent regime
change at the Bank of Japan supports
his outlook for a weaker yen and
stronger gold. He was referring to the
appointment of new governor
Haruhiko Kuroda, who committed the
central bank to a $1.4 trillion burst of
monetary stimulus to fight deflation,
mainly through purchases of long-
term Japanese government bonds.
"We believe that recent events,
including the regime change at the
Bank of Japan, support our long-term
thesis of both a weaker yen and
stronger gold," Einhorn said.
He said about a quarter of his
investment portfolio's 5.8 percent
return in the first quarter came from
bets on a weakening yen. He also said
the gains from that wager have "more
than offset" the quarterly decline in
gold prices.
Einhorn also said gains in Marvell
Technology Group Ltd and Vodafone
boosted the investment return. He
said investors have focused on
Marvell's strong product pipeline and
buyback plan, while Verizon's aim to
buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in
Verizon Wireless has lifted Vodafone
shares.
Einhorn is chairman of Greenlight Re.
Hedge funds are turning to reinsurers
to become a permanent source of
capital that is not subject to investor
withdrawals. The reinsurers use their
premiums to take positions in the
hedge funds that set them up.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
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