Paul Singer

Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management ended the first quarter with $20.1 billion in disclosed U.S. equity positions, and the portfolio reads less like a classic activist book and more like a concentrated value fund with a distressed overlay. The top three holdings alone account for nearly 58% of assets. Triple Flag Precious Metals is the largest position at 23% of the portfolio, a royalty and streaming company that produces no gold itself but collects payments from miners. That is a low-cost, long-duration cash flow stream, and it sits alongside two energy names: Phillips 66 at 17.4% and Suncor Energy at 17.3%. Elliott has pushed for operational changes at both refiners, and the combined weight suggests Singer sees sustained margins in downstream oil rather than a quick exit. The rest of the book is a mix of special situations and contrarian bets. Southwest Airlines is 5.7% of the portfolio, a position Elliott has used to pressure management on strategy and board composition. Pinterest, at 2.6%, is a newer activist target where the fund has sought cost cuts and a potential sale. Uniti Group, a real estate investment trust that owns fiber infrastructure, is a distressed holding at 2.8%. The fund also holds $1.2 billion in a Select Sector SPDR, likely the energy ETF, plus smaller stakes in Hewlett Packard Enterprise and another sector fund. Apple appears in the data but is listed under a Select Sector SPDR ticker, which suggests it is part of an ETF wrapper rather than a direct equity bet. What separates Elliott from most large hedge funds is the absence of technology mega-caps and the willingness to hold concentrated, illiquid positions. Singer’s portfolio has a 23% weight in a single precious metals royalty company, a structure most activists avoid because it lacks the voting power they typically seek. The energy and metals concentration gives the book a commodity sensitivity that peers have largely abandoned. Elliott is not diversifying; it is doubling down on cash-generative assets where it can influence management, and it is willing to wait.