Taconic Capital Advisors, founded by Frank Brosens, has its top five holdings in BP plc (NYSE:BP), which makes up 26.4 percent, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) holds 13.7 percent, Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY) equals 10 percent, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) has 8.2 percent, and WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) makes up 6.65 percent. The firm has huge exposure in the oil and gas sector. The firm has about $9 billion in assets, however the assets disclosed with the SEC fall close to $1.5 billion. The latest stock picks from the 13f filed for third quarter of 2012 are:
Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY)
Taconic initiated its position in Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY) by buying 6 million shares of the oil and gas company. Nexen is expected to get a significant boost from Cnooc’s (HK: 883) acquisition of the Canadian oil and gas major. The $15 billion takeover is expected to finalize by the end of this year.
Gold
The fund initiated some significant positions in gold assets in the previous quarter. New stakes were bought in SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD), with 450,000 shares and in Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX), with 150,000 shares. The total exposure of both of these assets is close to 6 percent of the portfolio.
Taconic also acquired new holdings in AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE:AGP), Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN), and Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE:OI).
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is held by Taconic, and is also a favorite long of David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital. Frank Brosens spoke at an investing conference meant to raise charity a couple of days ago. He discussed the valuation of General Motors, where he expected significant tailwinds from the new management team, rising car sales, and better capital allocation. The company also has $22 billion in reserves and is operating on a better cost management policy. Brosens talked about how the company has undergone major restructuring and has started posting profits. GM is also expected to buy back shares from the government.
Goodrich Corporation (NYSE:GR)
Taconic sold their entire stake in Goodrich Corporation (NYSE:GR) in the third quarter. The stock made over 28 percent of the portfolio in Q2 2012. 5.57 million shares were sold in Q3. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) bought Goodrich in the beginning of Q3 of this year.
Taconic Capital closed its positions in MeadWestvaco Corp. (NYSE:MWV), American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG), Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) , Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:CCE), and others.
