(Adds Paulson, market background)
By Marcy Nicholson
NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Soros Fund Management LLC dissolved its shares in the world's biggest gold exchange-traded fund in the third quarter of 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed on Monday.
By the end of September, billionaire financier George Soros' fund eliminated its position in SPDR Gold Trust GLD (NYSE:GLD).P as bullion prices briefly rose to the highest in more than two years, having held 240,000 shares worth $30.4 million in the second quarter,
Soros more than doubled its shares in miner Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO to 2.85 million shares worth $50.5 million, from 1.07 million shares in the second quarter, the 13F filing showed.
Paulson & Co, led by longtime gold bull John Paulson, held its stake in SPDR Gold Trust unchanged at 4.78 million shares. Its value fell to $600 million by the end of the third quarter from $603.9 million in the second quarter.
Inflows into SPDR Gold Trust HLDSPDRGT=XAU increased by more than 3 percent to a three-year high in the third quarter as higher gold prices typically attract investment money to bullion, which is often seen as a hedge against inflation. GOL/ETF
In July, spot gold prices XAU= extended the steep 25 percent gains made in the first half of 2016 to peak at $1,374.91 an ounce, the highest since March 2014. Prices eased nearly 3 percent by the end of September to $1,315.80 as expectations increased for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December. Spot gold prices have since fallen to a 5-1/2 month low of $1,211.08.
In a 13F filing earlier this month, CI Investments Inc CIXCI.UL , an investment manager of Toronto-based CI Financial Corp, reported that it sharply cut its stake in SPDR Gold Trust to 62,719 shares worth $7.88 million, from 9.4 million shares worth $1.19 billion at the end of June, when it was the second-biggest shareholder. Partners, led by activist investor Barry Rosenstein, remained out of gold after dissolving its share stake in SPDR Gold Trust in the second quarter.