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

By David Randall and Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC was among the prominent funds that took positions in embattled regional bank First Republic Bank (OTC:) 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 (NYSE:), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:), while selling regional banks including PacWest Bancorp and PNC Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:).