(Bloomberg) — Brevan Howard Asset Management’s new digital currency fund escaped with a single-digit loss after it held cash during some of this year’s crypto meltdown.
(Bloomberg) — Brevan Howard Asset Management’s new digital currency fund escaped with a single-digit loss after it held cash during some of this year’s crypto meltdown.
The BH Digital Multi-Strategy Fund is down about 5% this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The fund is yet to deploy all $1 billion it raised earlier this year, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. It’s not clear if the cash holding was a call on the market or the money simply hadn’t been deployed before the crypto markets plummeted.
By comparison, cryptocurrency hedge funds tracked by Bloomberg slumped 43% on average as Bitcoin’s roughly-60% decline and the recent collapse of crypto exchange FTX sent shockwaves through the nascent industry.
Brevan Howard’s digital fund is handing assets to internal and external portfolio managers who bet on the direction of cryptocurrency prices as well as relative-value and venture capital opportunities.
The firm is among mainstream hedge funds that are pushing aggressively into digital assets, exposing them to volatile prices as well as the fallout from FTX’s bankruptcy last month. The fiasco has led to losses for some of the biggest names in finance including Tiger Global Management, Third Point and Brevan Howard’s founder Alan Howard personally, who chipped in as an angel investor in FTX.
The BH Digital unit employed more than 50 people earlier this year. Following the recent turmoil, the firm moved some of the staff to other parts of its business, the people said.
A spokesman for the Jersey, Channel Islands-based investment firm declined to comment.
After a number of mediocre years, Brevan Howard has seen a rebound in its business under Chief Executive Aron Landy. Assets have risen to $30 billion, or about five times the lows seen in late 2018, with the firm growing to more than 700 employees.
Its flagship macro hedge fund was up about 18% this year through November, while its multistrategy Alpha Strategies fund is heading for a record 26.5% return, according to investor updates seen by Bloomberg.
–With assistance from Harry Wilson.
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