This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Bridgewater Associates' 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 8/11/2022. Please visit our Tracking Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates 13F Portfolio series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and the fund's moves during Q1 2022.
Assets Under Management (AUM) is at around $140B. The 13F portfolio is less than ~20% of their total AUM. This quarter, the 13F portfolio value decreased ~5% from $24.81B to $23.60B. The holdings are diversified with recent reports showing around 1000 different stakes. Around 40 of them are significantly large (more than ~0.5% of the 13F portfolio) and they are the focus of this article. The top three individual stock positions are at ~10% while the top five holdings are close to ~15% of the 13F assets: Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Costco Wholesale.
Note 1: The firm uses asset class diversification among uncorrelated positions to achieve absolute returns. As such the stakes can be on or against debt, equity, and other markets around the world. To learn more about their unique investment philosophy, check out their video channel and Ray Dalio's books.
Note 2: It was reported in June that Bridgewater Associates had built a $10.5B bet against European businesses including ASML Holding, (ASML), TotalEnergies SE (TTE), Sanofi (SNY), and SAP SE (SAP).
Note 3: Although Ray Dalio is a Sinophile whose fascination for China goes back to 1984, it is interesting that only ~1% of Bridgewater's AUM is invested in China.
Stake Disposals:
Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) and JD.com (JD): The fairly large 3.28% BABA stake was established in the 2018-2020 timeframe at prices between ~$132 and ~$310. Q3 2021 saw a ~130% stake increase at prices between ~$145 and ~$220. Last two quarters had seen another similar increase at prices between ~$77 and ~$178. The disposal this quarter was at prices between ~$81 and ~$120. The stock currently trades at ~$94. The very small 0.50% of the portfolio stake in JD was also sold this quarter.
Stake Increases:
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): A fairly large stake in IVV was built during the 2017-2018 timeframe at prices between ~$245 and ~$295. It was sold down during the two quarters through Q1 2021 at prices between ~$325 and ~$400. Last five quarters had seen the stake rebuilt at prices between ~$368 and ~$477. The stock is now at ~$399 and the stake is at 2.73% of the portfolio.
Note: a much smaller stake in IVV was part of the portfolio during the 2012-16 timeframe.
CVS Health (CVS), Costco Wholesale (COST), Target Corp. (TGT), and Walmart (WMT): CVS is a 1.24% of the portfolio stake primarily built this quarter at prices between ~$89 and ~$107 and the stock currently trades at ~$100. The 2.46% of the portfolio COST stake was built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$305 and ~$395 and the stock currently trades at ~$529. There was a ~30% stake increase last quarter at prices between ~$477 and ~$577. This quarter saw a minor ~2% increase. TGT is a 0.93% of the portfolio stake established in H2 2020 at prices between ~$119 and ~$180. Q2 2021 saw a ~55% stake increase at prices between ~$200 and ~$245. That was followed with a ~50% increase over the last two quarters at prices between ~$139 and ~$249. The stock currently trades at ~$165. The 2.42% WMT position was purchased during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$119 and ~$152. Q4 2021 saw the stake sold down by ~45% at prices between ~$135 and ~$151. Last two quarters have seen a two-thirds increase at prices between ~$118 and ~$160. The stock is now at ~$135.
Medtronic plc (MDT): MDT is a 0.95% of the portfolio position built over the last two quarters at prices between ~$87 and ~$113 and the stock currently trades near the low end of that range at $88.53.
Baidu, Inc. (BIDU), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Dollar General (DG), Exxon Mobil (XOM), General Mills (GIS), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Mastercard (MA), Merck Inc. (MRK), Monster Beverage (MNST), NIO Inc. (NIO), Stryker Corp. (SYK), and Sysco Corp. (SYY): These small (less than ~0.75% of the portfolio each) stakes were increased this quarter.
Stake Decreases:
Procter & Gamble (PG) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): PG is currently the largest position at 4.11% of the portfolio. It was established in H2 2020 at prices between ~$120 and ~$144. H1 2021 saw a ~80% stake increase at prices between ~$124 and ~$139. Last two quarters also saw a ~45% increase at prices between ~$139 and ~$164. The stock currently trades at ~$140. There was marginal trimming this quarter. The 3.26% JNJ stake was a small position in their first 13F filing in Q4 2005. The stake has wavered. The current position was built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$137 and ~$171. Last two quarters had seen a ~55% stake increase at prices between ~$155 and ~$180. The stock currently trades at ~$165. There was marginal trimming this quarter.
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM): The large (top three) 3.18% IEMG stake was first purchased in 2016. The position size peaked at over 15M shares in 2017. The stake had since been sold down. Recent activity follows. Q3 2021 saw a ~225% stake increase at prices between ~$61 and ~$67. That was followed with a stake doubling last quarter at prices between ~$51 and ~$62. IEMG currently trades at ~$48. There was a ~4% trimming this quarter. The EEM position was a large long-term stake that has been in the portfolio since 2010.
The sizing peaked at close to 80M shares by 2014. Since then, the stake has wavered. Recent activity follows. Q1 2021 saw the position sold down to a minutely small stake at prices between ~$52 and ~$58. Next two quarters saw the position rebuilt at prices between ~$50 and ~$56. Q4 2021 saw a ~55% selling at prices between ~$47 and ~$53 while last quarter there was a stake doubling at prices between ~$41.50 and ~$51. The position was sold down again this quarter at prices between ~$39 and ~$47. EEM is currently at ~$39.
SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY): A small position in SPY was first established in Q1 2006. An amended filing in Q4 2007 showed a huge 40% of the 13F portfolio stake (~12M shares) established in the high 140s price range. The position size peaked at ~21M shares by 2011. The decade through 2020 had seen the position reduced to 3.7M shares through minor selling in most quarters. H1 2021 saw another ~45% reduction at prices between ~$370 and ~$430. SPY now trades at ~$396 and it is still a top-five stake at 2.95% of the portfolio. Last four quarters have also seen minor trimming.
Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP): The four quarters through Q2 2021 saw a ~8.2M shares KO stake built at prices between ~$45 and ~$56. That was followed with a ~40% stake increase last quarter at prices between ~$58 and ~$63. The stock currently trades at ~$62, and the stake is fairly large at 2.88% of the portfolio. There was a ~9% trimming this quarter. PEP built up occurred in a similar fashion. The four quarters through Q2 2021 saw a 2.7M shares stake built at prices between ~$129 and ~$148. That was followed with a ~55% stake increase over the last two quarters at prices between ~$150 and ~$176. The stock is now at ~$173 and the stake is at 2.69% of the portfolio. There was a ~9% trimming this quarter.
Note: Much smaller stakes in these two positions were part of the portfolio during the decade through 2016.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO): VWO is a fairly large 2.72% of the portfolio stake. It was first purchased in 2009. The position size peaked at over 115M shares in 2014. This is compared to 15.43M shares currently. Recent activity follows. 2020 saw a ~45% selling at prices between ~$31 and ~$50 while in Q3 2021 there was a stake doubling at prices between ~$49 and ~$53. Next quarter saw a ~30% selling while last quarter there was a similar increase. There was a one-third reduction this quarter at prices between ~$40.50 and ~$48. VWO currently trades at ~$41.
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) and Starbucks Corp. (SBUX): MCD is a 2.17% of the portfolio position first built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$184 and ~$237. Last two quarters saw another ~55% stake increase at prices between ~$222 and ~$270. The stock is now at ~$257. There was a ~10% trimming this quarter. The ~1% SBUX stake was built similarly at prices between ~$74 and ~$118. Last two quarters saw another ~45% stake increase at prices between ~$79 and ~$117. The stock currently trades at $85.40. There was a minor ~2% trimming this quarter.
iShares Gold Trust (IAU) and SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD): These two positions were first built in 2017. A fairly large IAU stake was built in 2017 at an average price of ~$25 per share. There was a roughly one-third stake increase in 2020 at prices between ~$29 and ~$39. Last six quarters have seen the position sold down by ~85% at prices between ~$32 and ~$37. IAU now goes for ~$32 and the stake is now small at 0.34% of the portfolio. A larger stake in GLD was built in 2017 at prices between ~$110 and ~$128. 2020 saw a ~25% selling at prices between ~$140 and ~$191. That was followed with a ~40% selling next quarter at prices between ~$159 and ~$178. Q3 2021 saw a similar increase at prices between ~$162 and ~$171. The stock currently trades at ~$158, and the stake is at 0.93% of the portfolio. There was a ~40% reduction this quarter at prices between ~$168 and ~$185.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Becton, Dickinson (BDX), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), Estee Lauder (EL), Li Auto (LI), Kimberley-Clark (KMB), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), and Pinduoduo Inc. (PDD): These small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) stakes were reduced during the quarter.
The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Bridgewater Associates' 13F holdings in Q2 2022:
