"Big Short" Michael Burry heavily invested in gold in the first quarter

On May 15th, according to a latest regulatory filing, Michael Burry significantly increased his holdings in the Physical Gold Trust Fund in the first quarter of this year, making it the top holding in his Scion Asset Management company's portfolio.

Specifically, as the head of Scion Asset Management, Burry purchased over 440,000 shares of the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) in the first quarter, with a total value exceeding $10 million. The Sprott Physical Gold Trust is a closed-end fund that directly holds physical gold, rather than gold derivatives or stocks.

Currently, the market price of this gold trust is trading below its Net Asset Value (NAV). Data provided by Nuveen shows that PHYS is currently trading at a discount of 1.67%, slightly higher than its 52-week average discount of 1.57%. During this period, the maximum discount rate for PHYS reached 2.52%, and in the past year, its trading price has never exceeded its net asset value.

Public information indicates that Michael Burry is a renowned investor known for accurately predicting the subprime mortgage crisis. This action of his was later documented in the book "The Big Short" and adapted into a movie of the same name. Looking at the top 10 holdings of Scion Asset Management, besides increasing his gold holdings, the second and third largest positions are in China's e-commerce giants JD.com and Alibaba, in which Burry is also increasing his investments. Additionally, his major holdings include HCA Healthcare, Citigroup, and Block, among others.

Of course, for fund managers like Burry who manage assets exceeding $100 million, they are required to publicly disclose their stock holdings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 45 days after the end of each quarter. By the time this information reaches the public, Burry may have already made changes to his investment allocations. The data we see now may differ from his actual investment situation