Brookfield Residential Properties Inc (NYSE:BRP), The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE): Hedge Funds Are Dumping Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM)

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM) was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. BAM has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with BAM positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).

Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the latest action surrounding Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM).

How are hedge funds trading Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM)?

At year’s end, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -12% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management had the most valuable position in Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM), worth close to $249 million, accounting for 5.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Robert Joseph Caruso of Select Equity Group, with a $192 million position; the fund has 3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management, Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management and Christian Leone’s Luxor Capital Group.

Judging by the fact that Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Ryan Schaper’s Point Lobos Capital said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, valued at close to $8 million in stock.. D. E. Shaw’s fund, D E Shaw, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds heading into 2013.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM). These stocks are Brookfield Residential Properties Inc (NYSE:BRP), The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE), Gazit-Globe Ltd. (NYSE:GZT), American Realty Capital Properties Inc (NASDAQ:ARCP), and Howard Hughes Corp (NYSE:HHC). This group of stocks are the members of the real estate development industry and their market caps are similar to BAM’s market cap.

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With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s research, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.