Unstructured Finance

More research was published today showing that the honeymoon is over for American hedge fund managers and technology giant Apple. The iPhone maker was one of the top two most sold stocks by hedge funds in the fourth quarter, according to an analysis of regulatory filings by Bank of America. (The other stock was  Tyco International).

This industry-wide ditching of Apple came as AIG  replaced the iPhone maker as hedge fund land’s most loved top-10 stock holding in Q4. It was the first time Apple had been knocked out of pole position in three years. For a list of some of the big names that ditched Apple, see this story by Aaron Pressman.

Meanwhile, BofA analysts found that the top two stocks purchased by hedge funds in the three months to December were  Facebook and Citigroup. The AIG and Citi buys were part of a larger move into financials by hedge funds in the fourth quarter, the BofA Hedge Fund Monitor report showed, and away from technology companies.

According to the report:

Discretionary became the most favored sector in 4Q’12 … as hedge funds continued to switch from Tech into Financials.  Hedge funds increased weight in six out of 10 sectors, led by Financials and  Energy, by 2.7% and 1.0%, respectively. Weight in Technology and Healthcare decreased the most…

Hedge funds aggressively bought Financials to 18.1% of portfolios by the end of 4Q12, the highest since our record started in 2005; dollar value was $76bn in 4Q12 compared to $58bn in 3Q12. The interest in Financials was concentrated in Insurance and Diversified Financials Services.

By Lauren Tara LaCapra

As 2012 comes to an end, it’s clear that Wall Street has had the best-worst year in quite some time.

Bank profits are at record highs and lows, driven by free money from the Fed that they can’t make any money with, and a historically small number of historically huge deals. Facebook’s IPO – among the biggest ever – happened this year, and it was an enormous failure and a terrific success all at once.

And if that’s not enough to convince you, just take a look at the big-tiny payday that Wall Street employees are expected to get this year: bonuses for bankers, traders and money managers are supposed to rise up to 10 percent, in what a top pay consultant called one of the weakest years in a decade or more. Since big banks have been required to shift more bonus money into restricted stock with clawback provisions, some employees even feel like they’re getting punished by those bigger paychecks.