Scion Asset Management, the hedge fund founded by Michael Burry, who famously predicted the 2008 financial crisis, had upped its bets on private prisons with the addition of new stocks in the third quarter of the year, according to a report by Reuters.

Scion Asset Management, the hedge fund founded by Michael Burry, who famously predicted the 2008 financial crisis, had upped its bets on private prisons with the addition of new stocks in the third quarter of the year, according to a report by Reuters.

The report cites regulatory filings released on Monday as revealing that Scion added five new companies to its portfolio between July and September, including prison operator CoreCivic, and also boosted its holding in another private prison company, CEO Group Inc.

The stock acquisitions, which came on the back of Scion dumping a dozen positions in Q2, saw the firm buy roughly 1.5 million additional shares in Geo Group in the third quarter taking its overall position are than $17.3 million, the biggest in Scion's portfolio. The firm also added $7.8 million stake in CoreCivic.

Away from private prisons, Scion also backed telecoms groups Liberty Latin America Ltd and Charter Communications Inc, aerospace and defence company Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc, and video commerce firm Qurate Retail Inc.