Market bear Crispin Odey sees hedge fund massively underperform with 17.9% plunge in first half of 2020

• Crispin Odey's main fund tumbled 17.9% in the first half of 2020, significantly underperforming the 3.5% loss seen throughout the hedge fund industry, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
• The Odey European Inc. Fund slid 7.3% in June alone.
• The loss comes despite netting at least 25 million euros ($28 million) from a bet against beleaguered payment firm Wirecard and at least 75 million euros ($94 million) from a short position on mall owner Intu Properties, according to Bloomberg.
• Odey's flagship only registered a monthly gain in March, when bearish positions drove a 21% gain through markets' coronavirus slump.
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Crispin Odey's main hedge fund tanked through the first half of the year, underperforming the broad hedge fund industry and wiping out gains made during March's market downturn.

The Odey European Inc. Fund sank 17.9% in the period compared to a 3.5% loss across the industry, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a letter to investors. Odey's flagship fund dropped 7.3% in June alone as economies reopened and the stock market stabilized after its colossal April and May rallies.

"The future is as unknowable today as it was three months ago," Odey wrote in the letter.

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Odey was previously tracking to be one of the hedge fund industry's few winners earlier in the year. His bearish fund leaped 21% in March as risk assets plummeted amid initial coronavirus concerns. Yet every month since has yielded losses. Odey now manages $624 million in the main fund, down from roughly $700 million in March, according to Bloomberg.

The main fund's stumble comes despite two bearish bets minting multimillion-dollar profits. When embattled payment company Wirecard lost more than $2 billion from its balance sheet and later filed for insolvency, Odey netted at least 25 million euros ($28 million), Bloomberg reported.

Odey's bet against UK shopping mall group Intu Properties also boosted the fund. His stake against the firm gained at least 75 million euros ($94 million) when Intu entered insolvency proceedings.

The hedge fund manager is on track for a second-straight annual loss should the firm fail to retrace its first-half plunge. The main fund slid 10.1% in 2019 as the record-long bull market continued. Odey pivoted to equity positions in November to counter some of his losses, Bloomberg previously reported, but an 11.4% leap in December wasn't enough to notch an annual gain.

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