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These are the 13 richest hedge fund managers in Britain - all worth more than £400 million
These are the 13 richest hedge fund managers in Britain - all worth more than £400 million
Will MartinMay 12, 2018, 13:33 IST
YouTube/ Simon Fielder
2017 was a good year for Britain's richest financiers, with the top 13 in the industry adding more than £1 billion to their cumulative wealth as the good times continued to roll in the global markets.
The list is largely unchanged from its last iteration in May 2017, with most of Britain's biggest figures in the world of finance maintaining and adding to their already sizeable wealth.
"The recent volatility of global stock markets have provided opportunities for the City's richest hedgies to gild their wealth," Robert Watts, who compiles the Rich List said.
"But life as a billionaire hedge fund manager is not a one-way bet. Four big names of the hedge fund world have seen big falls in their wealth over the past year."
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"Managers tend to invest heavily in their funds, so if their fund bombs so does their own wealth," he added.
So who made the list? Check out the top 13 managers, all of whom are worth more than £400 million, below.
The head of Caxton Associates, Law has seen his net worth stay flat over the last year, despite poor performance from Caxton in 2017. While hedge funds are notoriously secretive, Bloomberg reported in December that Law's fund within Caxton had lost 12.8% in 2017.
T=12. Yan Huo
Net worth: £475 million
Huo, who started his career in finance as a quantitative analyst at JPMorgan, co-founded London-based hedge fund Capula Investment Management in 2005, and has grown the fund significantly since its inception.
His net worth has increased £75 million since last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, and he is believed to have taken home £72.2 million in compensation in 2017.
T=10. Ian Wace
Net worth: £520 million
The cofounder of Marshall Wace, one of the UK's biggest and most recognisable hedge funds, Wace and his business partner Sir Paul Marshall saw their net worth increase by £15 million each in the last year.
T=10. Sir Paul Marshall
Net worth: £520 million
Unlike his partner, Marshall has an outspoken involvement in politics, and was a major backer of the Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum. In January, he accused the Bank of England of being excessively negative about Brexit, and by doing so, said that the central bank risked ruining its credibility.
9. John Armitage
Net worth: £540 million
Acting as chief investment officer of the fund he co-founded, Egerton Capital, John Armitage has made big bucks betting on large capitalisation stocks in the past. While his net worth hasn't changed since last year, Armitage has reportedly spent nearly $18 million on a New York apartment in 2018.
8. Crispin Odey and Nichola Pease
Net worth: £750 million
Odey is perhaps the best-known individual fund manager in the UK, but that hasn't stopped him enduring a torrid time in recent years. Prior to the vote to leave the EU in 2016, Odey made a series of major bets against UK stock market, some of which backfired.
According to a story from the Times in December, which cited the firm's accounts, profits at Odey Asset Management dropped from £44.23 million to £18.6 million in the year to April 5. That was even further down from the £84 million profits the firm reported in the 2015 financial year.
The Rich List reports that Odey's wealth, along with that of his wife and fellow fund manager Nichola Pease, dropped £25 million this year.
7. Chris Rokos
Net worth: £775 million
The cofounder of Brevan Howard initially retired at the age of 41 after he made £590 million from the group. However, he's now back in the game with the recently launched Rokos Capital Management.
His net worth continues to increase, having risen £75 million from last year.
T=5. Sir Chris Hohn
Net worth: £1 billion
Hohn, who heads up TCI Fund Holdings, has seen his net worth increase by £180 million in the past year. He took home a payment of £270 million in the year.
T=5. David Harding
Net worth: £1 billion
Harding is the biggest loser on 2018's hedge fund list, with his net worth decreasing by £300 million. Profits at his firm, Winton Capital, halved in 2017 to just £107.3 million.
"A currency hedge between the dollar and sterling cost Winton £20.9m but the fund has paid out at least £710m of dividends in the past three years," the Sunday Times said.
4. Alan Howard
Net worth: £1.01 billion
Founder of Brevan Howard, Howard has seen his net worth decline £30 million over the last year. Brevan Howard's flagship fund lost 5.4% last year, according to Bloomberg, marking its worst annual performance since 2003.
The fund once managed $40 billion, but it has seen its assets shrink by 75% since that peak.
3. Sir Michael Hintze
Net worth: £1.38 billion
Increasing his net worth by £100 million in the last year, Hintze is enjoying a period of huge success with his fund CQS. It manages around £9 billion, and saw its main fund increase 30% in value last year, according to the Sunday Times.
2. Robert Miller and Princess Marie-Chantal and family
Net worth: £2 billion
"Miller, American-born but a British citizen, was the cofounder of the Hong Kong based Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) chain in 1960. The value of his 38.75% stake in the company rocketed and it has over 157m customers. Since 1974, his money has been managed by the family’s Hong Kong-based Search Investment Group," the Sunday Times said.
His wealth has reportedly increased by £420 million over the last 12 months.
1. Michael Platt
Net worth: £3 billion
For another year, Britain's richest hedge fund manager is Michael Platt of BlueCrest Capital. Founded in 2003 by Platt and partner William Reeves, BlueCrest has gone from strength to strength in the 15 years since.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the fund saw its portfolio increase 54% in value last year, helping increase Platt's individual wealth by £600 million, more than any other UK fund manager.
