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BlueCrest Capital Management

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BlueCrest Capital Management
Company typePrivate
IndustryInvestment management
Founded2000; 24 years ago (2000)
FoundersMichael Platt
William Reeves
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Number of employees
600

BlueCrest Capital Management is a British-American investment firm which was founded by British billionaire Michael Platt and American William Reeves in 2000.[1] The firm has office locations in London, Jersey, Singapore and New York.[2]

Background

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Bluecrest was founded in 2000 as a hedge fund by Michael Platt and William Reeves who were both previously senior proprietary traders at JPMorgan Chase.[1][3]

In 2014, Bluecrest spun off $8.2 billion worth of assets into a new company, Systematica Investments, run by Bluecrest employee, Leda Braga. CNBC has referred to Braga as "the most powerful woman in Hedge Funds", earning in excess of $50 million annually.[4][5]

In 2015, Bluecrest returned all outside capital to investors and transitioned into a family office,[2] which is a private investment partnership that manages money for its partners and employees.[6][7]

The fund generated returns of 50% in 2016, 54% in 2017,[8] 25% in 2018 when the average hedge fund lost money, and 50% in 2019.[9]

In March 2020, BlueCrest reduced the size of its relative-value trading book, which seeks to exploit anomalies in related securities. The company also cut risk across the firm by about $1 billion. BlueCrest suffered some losses after the sell-off, but the investment fund was up for the year through the close of trading on 11 March.[10]

On 8 December 2020, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that BlueCrest had agreed to pay $170 million to settle charges arising from inadequate disclosures, material misstatements, and misleading omissions concerning its transfer of top traders from its flagship client fund, BlueCrest Capital International (BCI), to a proprietary fund, BSMA Limited, and replacement of those traders with an underperforming algorithm.[11]

The fund generated returns of 153% in 2022[12] and 20% in 2023.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Michael Platt And William Reeves Bio, Returns, Net Worth". Insider Monkey. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Mourselas, Costas (5 May 2024). "Michael Platt's BlueCrest prepares to expand trading teams". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. ^ Vardi, Nathan. "Billionaire Michael Platt Closes His BlueCrest Hedge Fund". Forbes. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Leda Braga". equinoxfunds.com. 19 March 2022.
  5. ^ Nathan Vardi. "Leda Braga - In Photos: The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers". Forbes.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Alexandra; Goldstein, Matthew (1 December 2015). "BlueCrest to Close Hedge Fund and Refund Outside Investors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Hedge fund firm BlueCrest Capital Management to go private". Reuters. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Returns".
  9. ^ Fletcher, Laurence (29 December 2019). "Ex-hedge fund BlueCrest extends winning run with 50% gain this year". www.ft.com. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  10. ^ "BlueCrest Shrinks From Relative-Value Trades Amid Losses, Exits". Bloomberg.com. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ^ Michaels, Dave (8 December 2020). "BlueCrest Capital Management to Pay $170 Million to Settle SEC Claims". Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ "BlueCrest's 153% Surge Makes Platt a Bigger Billionaire". Bloomberg.com. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
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