David Dreman Expects 'Major Losses' for Bond Insurers

David Dreman, the 71-year-old value investor, said he bought more shares of financial institutions after the industry's worst annual performance since 1990 created a ``major opportunity.''

The investor said he increased his stakes in Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. near the end of 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 Financials Index tumbled 15 percent in the fourth quarter, giving it a 21 percent loss for the year. Bank of America fell 18 percent and Wachovia lost 24 percent in the final three months of 2007.

``There was panic in the market towards the end of the year and a lot of them went down far too much,'' Dreman, who oversees $20 billion at Dreman Value Management LLC, said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. ``There will be a turn, and this is probably a major opportunity in financials, probably one of the best in the last 15 years.''

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