Name: Bracebridge Capital, LLC 13F Holdings
Creator: 13F Insight

AI Analysis · Q1 2026

Bracebridge Capital's Q1 2026 13F is a $3.73B, 44-position multi-strategy fund executing one of the most dramatic single-quarter rotations in this batch — the fund opened a $1.55B position in IWM (iShares Russell 2000, 41.5% of AUM) that did not exist in Q4 2025 (prior iShares positions were different CUSIPs for mid-cap and small-cap sleeves), simultaneously doubled its gold exposure (GLD SPDR Gold Trust +$252.3M, +139.1% shares to $410.3M; second SPDR gold position +$47.9M, +3.8% shares; combined gold $834.6M, 22.4% of AUM), and completely liquidated what had been its largest Q4 2025 position — an iShares mid-cap sleeve worth $1.04B (-$1.04B, -100%). The fund also opened 14 additional new positions including Tesla ($52.9M, via warrants and common), Salesforce ($37.3M), Warner Bros Discovery ($27.5M), Ares Capital ($24.1M), Adt ($13.9M, increased +1.7M shares), Alvotech ($9.3M), Genworth ($5.8M), Invesco ETF ($5.1M), Blackstone Mortgage ($4.6M), Algoma Steel ($3.8M), SPDR XLE energy ETF ($24.6M), and a scattering of sub-$1M micro-cap and SPAC/warrant positions. Nine positions were sold, led by the iShares mid-cap ($1.04B), Core Scientific ($87.1M), KraneShares trust ($27.2M), and a series of SPAC warrants and micro-caps. The 53 total changes (15 new, 9 sold, 6 increased, 4 decreased) is extraordinarily high churn and reflects a portfolio that appears to have undergone a strategy or manager change between Q4 and Q1. At a 77.25 whaleScore on $3.73B, the Q1 delta is best read as a multi-strategy fund rotating from a prior mid-cap-growth sleeve into a small-cap-value core (IWM at 41.5%) with a massive gold-and-Treasury overlay (combined gold 22.4%, SPY 6.1%) — a positioning consistent with a macro view that favors small-cap value and hard assets (gold) over mid-cap growth in a higher-for-longer rate environment.

The headline trade is the IWM opening. IWM (iShares Russell 2000, $1.55B, 41.5%, 62,365 shares) — a small-cap US equity ETF covering the bottom 2,000 US stocks by market cap — opened as the portfolio's largest position in what appears to be a complete replacement of the prior mid-cap sleeve. The Q4 holdings show iShares positions with different CUSIPs (464288953 for what appears to be a mid-cap sleeve, and a second iShares position) valued at $1.04B combined; these were sold and replaced by IWM (small-cap) plus a SPDR S&P 500 position ($227.6M, 6.1%). The move from mid-cap to small-cap is a deliberate size-bias shift: the manager is expressing a view that small-cap US equities — heavily exposed to regional-bank-and-CRE stress in Q4 2025 — are now more attractively positioned than mid-caps as the rate cycle pivots. Small caps benefit more from rate cuts (higher proportion of floating-rate debt), have more leverage to a US-growth re-acceleration, and are more domestically exposed (less international revenue) than mid-caps. The 41.5% IWM weight is one of the largest small-cap ETF allocations in this dataset.

The gold doubling is the second structural signal. The fund held two SPDR Gold Trust positions in Q4 2025 totaling $534.5M (GLD, a gold-ETF at $158.0M, and a smaller second tranche at $158.5M). In Q1, GLD was raised to $410.3M (+$252.3M, +139.1% shares — from 398,700 to 953,450 shares) and the second SPDR position was increased to $424.4M (+$47.9M, +3.8% shares — from 9,500 to 9,862 shares). Combined gold exposure: $834.6M, 22.4% of AUM. The 139% share increase in GLD — from a base that was already meaningful — is a massive tactical add that signals the manager is positioning for a significant gold-price appreciation or is using gold as a hedge against a financial-system stress scenario. Gold at 22.4% alongside a 41.5% IWM small-cap position creates a portfolio that is long US small-cap equities AND long gold — a combination that is consistent with either (a) a debasement/inflation hedge overlay on a small-cap equity book, or (b) a macro view that both small-caps and gold will outperform in a Fed-pivot environment.

Quarter at a glance — Q1 2026

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