The fortune of billionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey dwindled to mere millions last year
The wealth of one of the UK's best-known hedge fund managers dwindled from billions to mere millions last year, new data has shown. The heart bleeds…
According to figures from the Sunday Times Rich List, the fortune of Crispin Odey – the outspoken founder of Odey Asset Management – fell £200m in 2015, from £1.1bn to £900m.
But Odey wasn't the worst hit by market volatility last year – that accolade belongs to Alan Howard, of Brevan Howard, whose wealth fell £460m, to £1.04bn.
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Martin Hughes, of Toscafund, also suffered – his wealth fell £140m, to £365m.
But there were some who increased their personal wealth, despite the volatility. BlueCrest Capital's Michael Platt's wealth increased by £600m, to £2.1bn, while Rokos Capital Management's Chris Roko's fortune rose £260m, to £660m.
Its hardly surprising the fortunes of many hedge fund managers dwindled: figures published in January showed 2015 was the worst performing year for hedge funds since 2011, with returns of just two per cent.
"The hedge fund industry has been exposed to much of the financial turmoil of 2015, from the continuing fall in commodities prices to the loss of confidence in the Chinese stock market," said Amy Bensted, head of hedge fund products at Preqin at the time.
"These have created very difficult conditions for many firms, and left some investors questioning the ability of the industry to properly hedge losses in other markets."
Maybe time to think about becoming rockstars? Figures out from the Sunday Times Rich List earlier this week showed the combined wealth of the Rolling Stones rose £630m last year. Not bad…
| 2016 rank | 2015 rank | Name | Hedge fund | Wealth | Wealth increase/decrease |
| 1 | 1= | Michael Platt | BlueCrest Capital | £2.1bn | Up £600m |
| 2 | 4 | Sir Michael Hintze | CQS | £1.28bn | Up £50m |
| 3 | 7 | David Harding | Winton Capital | £1.15bn | Up £150m |
| 4 | 1= | Alan Howard | Brevan Howard | £1.04bn | Down £460m |
| 5 | 5 | Crispin Odey | Odey Asset Management | £900m | Down £200m |
| 6 | 8 | Sir Chris Hohn | Children's Investment Fund | £720m | Up £57m |
| 7 | 11= | Chris Rokos | Brevan Howard/Rokos Capital Management | £660m | Up £260m |
| 8 | 18 | John Armitage | Egerton Capital | £500m | Up £220m |
| 9= | 11= | Paul Marshall | Marshall Wace | £465m | Up £65m |
| 9= | 11= | Ian Wace | Marshall Wace | £465m | Up £65m |
| 11 | 10 | Andrew Law | Caxton Associates | £425m | No change |
| 12 | 41= | William Bollinger | Egerton Capital | £400m | Up £250m |
| 13 | 9 | Martin Hughes | Toscafund | £370m | Down £140m |
| 14 | 14= | Yan Huo | Capula Investment Management | £365m | Up £15m |
| 15 | 16 | Michael Cohen | Och-Ziff Capital Management | £335m | No change |
| 16 | New | Jeremy Hosking | Marathon Asset Management | £330m | New |
| 17 | 14= | Sir John Beckwith | RiverCrest Capital | £302m | Down £48m |
| 18= | 20= | Jonathan Hiscock | GSA Capital | £300m | Up £50m |
| 18= | 17 | Sir Paul Ruddock | Lansdowne Partners | £300m | No change |
| 20 | 24 | Nicolai Tangen | AKO Capital | £288m | Up 63m |