A massive hedge fund that shut itself to outsiders is crushing it
The London-based firm, run by billionaire Michael Platt, has crushed it to the tune of a 30% gain so far this year, according to a Bloomberg report, which comes after a 50% gain in 2016.
The firm declined to comment on the reported returns.
BlueCrest's numbers look especially gaudy compared to top European competitors Caxton Associates and Brevan Howard Asset Management, each of which posted losses in their main funds through the first six months of the year, according to the report.
Platt and his employees will reap all the rewards, as the hedge fund, which had previously managed some $9 billion in capital, stopped handling outside money at the start of 2016.
BlueCrest was hit by a wave of redemptions from top clients following a tepid performance from 2012 to 2015, in which the flagship fund "performed poorly with an annualized return of 0.65% net of fees," according to a consultant report for the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island.
Platt was unperturbed by the investor flight, later quipping to the Financial Times that BlueCrest was "happy to be our own client and run our own amount of leverage."
"We are going from earning 2 and 20 on clients' money to earning 0 and 100 on our own," he added.