Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- George Soros, who's described gold as the
"ultimate asset bubble," cut his holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust for a
third quarter, while rival fund manager John Paulson stuck with his
bet by maintaining the largest stake.

Soros Fund Management LLC sold 547,689 SPDR Gold shares as of Sept.
30, according to a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. The disposal represented 10 percent of Soros's
holding in SPDR Gold, according to Bloomberg calculations, and follows
sales in the first two quarters. Still, SPDR Gold remains the Soros
Fund's largest single equity holding.

Gold has soared to a record this year as investors sought protection
against weaker currencies and a possible resurgence of inflation.
Soros, who made $1 billion breaking the Bank of England's defense of
the pound in 1992, described gold as a bubble in January, and also
said buying at the start of one is rational. Since then he's cut the
SPDR Gold stake by 24 percent.

New York-based Paulson & Co. maintained its 31.5 million SPDR Gold
Trust shares, or 7.4 percent of the U.S. exchange- traded fund, as of
Sept. 30, according to a filing yesterday. Eric Mindich's Eton Park
Capital Management LP sold 2 million shares in the period, a separate
regulatory filing showed.

Spot gold, which touched at record $1,424.60 an ounce on Nov. 9, has
gained 24 percent this year and was at $1,359.90 at 11:27 a.m. in
Singapore. Fund managers including Paulson added the metal after the
2008 financial crisis shook investors' confidence in currencies. The
SPDR Gold Trust is the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion.

Form 13F Obligations

Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities must
file a Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 45
days of each quarter's end to show their U.S.-listed stocks, options
and convertible bonds. The filings don't show non-U.S. securities or
how much cash the firms hold.

Deutsche Bank AG is among banks forecasting more advances for gold
even after its rally. Precious metals were among the "safest long
positions," Michael Lewis, global head of commodities research at
Deutsche Bank, said last week. Gold may soar to $3,800 an ounce within
three years, Myles Zyblock, chief institutional strategist at RBC
Capital Markets, said in October.

Soros Fund Management's holding in SPDR Gold Trust shares reached 6.2
million as of Dec. 31, 2009, according to an earlier 13F filing. With
the sales over the past three quarters, that's been reduced by 24
percent, according to Bloomberg calculations.

SPDR Gold Trust remained Paulson & Co's top holding as of the end of
September, valued at about $4 billion, compared with $3.83 billion at
the end of June. The New York-based firm sold 2.7 million depositary
receipts in AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., its second-largest holding, in the
third quarter, the filing showed.

Mindich is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner who began New
York-based Eton Park in 2004 with $3.5 billion. SPDR Gold shares were
his second-largest equity holding in the third quarter after the sale.
Paulson has maintained 31.5 million SPDR Gold shares since March 31,
2009, according to 13F filings.

Soros said gold's rally may continue, Reuters reported in September,
citing an interview. "I called gold the ultimate bubble which means it
may go higher but it's certainly not safe and it's not going to last
forever," Soros was cited as saying.

--With assistance from Saijel Kishan in New York. Editors: Jake Lloyd-
Smith, James Poole

To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in
Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jim Poole at
Jpoole4@bloomberg.net