Brevan Howard
Brevan Howard is the world’s largest macro hedge fund. In August 2011 it made close to $1.5bn over three weeks on the back of turmoil in the global markets.
Activities
According to the Financial Times, 'so-called global macro funds such as Brevan aim to profit from shifts in the world economy by trading in bonds, currencies, rates and equities'.
- Brevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential bond-trading firms in the world, thanks to both its size and the frequency with which it trades. However, it is a notoriously publicity-shy company.
- The firm’s principal founding partner, Alan Howard, a former top Credit Suisse trader, oversees as much as a third of the master fund’s $24bn portfolio by himself from the firm’s recently opened Geneva office.
Of the £1.5billion August 2011 windfall the FT commented that:
- In a month in which equity markets worldwide have seen declines of more than 10 per cent, the gain comes as a vindication for the $32bn London-based fund manager, which for more than a year – like many of its peers – has struggled to make headway in volatile conditions. [1]
In a legal battle between Chris Rokos, a former co-founder, and Brevan, it was revealed that Rokos had been paid about $900 million (roughly £600 million) in his ten years at the hedge fund and that in 2011, the year before he left, he generated $1.2 billion in trading profits (30 percent of the returns) for Brevan's main fund that year.[2]
Political donations
Co-founder Christopher Rokos has donated a number of times to the Conservative Party and is a member of the premier supporters club - The Leader's Group.
Co-founder Alan Howard also donated funds to Conservative MP Liam Fox's office while he was in opposition.[3]
Affiliations
Entities related to Brevan Howard Asset Management: BH Global; BH Macro; Brevan Howard Asia Fund; Brevan Howard Emerging Market Strategies Fund; Brevan Howard Master Fund Ltd; Brevan Howard Credit Catalysts; Brevan Howard Macro FX; Swiss Reinsurance [4]
Related Firms: 5:15 Capital Management
People
- Alan Howard - co-founder
- Jean-Philippe Blochet - co-founder, left in November 2009 to join Louis Bacon's Moore Capital, then leaving to focus on philanthropy.
- Christopher Rokos - co-founder, left in 2012 to set up his own asset management firm with Brevan's backing.
- James Vernon - co-founder and chief operating officer who left in July 2011. The FT reported industry insiders as describing this as a huge loss to the firm, because "As chief operating officer, Mr Vernon has been instrumental in Brevan Howard’s success." In 2009 Vernon was reported as saying that "the proposed EU directive on hedge-fund regulation would make it "impossible" for it to do business in the UK." [5]
- Trifon Natsis - co-founder
- Nagi Kawkabani, Co-Chief Executive Officer Brevan Howard Asset Management since 2003. He and James Vernon are the key public faces of the firm.
- Lord Andrew Turnbull - chairman
History
The “Brevan” in the name of fund derives from the first letter of the last names of Blochet, Rokos, Vernon and Natsis, according to Bloomberg News.
Based in Marks & Spencer's former headquarters on Baker Street in London, and in Geneva, the firm has grown to become the world's fourth-largest hedge fund with $30bn (£20bn) run by 300 staff. [6]
Contact
- 55 Baker Street
- London W1U 8EW
- United Kingdom
- Website:www.brevanhoward.com/ (holding page only)
Notes
- ↑ Sam Jones, Brevan Howard capitalises on turmoil, Financial Times, 25 August 2011, acc 15.12.2011
- ↑ Miles Johnson Brevan Howard settles dispute with star trader Rokos Financial Times, 21 January 2015, accessed 5 May 2015.
- ↑ James Blitz, Elizabeth Rigby and Kiran Stacey, Doubts grow over how Fox pursues his goals, Ft.com, 13 October 2011.
- ↑ Brevan Howard Asset Management - Investor Profile
- ↑ Katya Wachtel, Huge Loss For $32 Billion Hedge Fund Brevan Howard As Founder And COO Quits The Firm, July 23, 2011 acc 5 Jan 2012
- ↑ Andrew Clarke Alan Howard New billionaire on the block, guardian.co.uk, 11 March 2010.
