Hedge fund co-founder returns to London from New York
Glen Point Capital has suffered tough period with losing bets in Argentina
The co-founder of Glen Point Capital, a hedge fund that raised money from billionaire investor George Soros, has relocated back to London from New York in the wake of a tough period for the emerging markets-focused manager.
Jonathan Fayman, Glen Point’s co-chief investment officer and a former senior fund manager at BlueBay Asset Management, moved to the US a couple of years ago but moved back to the hedge fund’s London office late last year, according to people familiar with the firm.
Mr Fayman’s move to New York, which separated him from co-founder Neil Phillips, has been viewed as a possible mis-step by some people close to the firm.
Last year Glen Point, which manages around $2.5bn in assets, posted a 3.3 per cent loss in its main fund. It lost money with bets on Argentina, following a shock primary election result in August that knocked the country’s stock market and currency. So far this year, the fund has gained 4 per cent, said a person who had seen the numbers.
Glen Point declined to comment.
Mr Fayman joins a number of hedge fund managers who have made London their base in recent years, despite political and regulatory uncertainty as the UK exits the EU.
Alan Howard, co-founder of Brevan Howard, moved to Geneva in 2010 but the switch was later seen internally as a mistake and he returned to London in 2017.
Last year Caxton Associates, one of the world’s oldest hedge funds, told investors its headquarters were now in London rather than New York after a burst of hiring that roughly doubled headcount in its London office over 18 months.
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However, former GLG star trader Greg Coffey moved to New York last year, citing concerns about London’s role as a global financial centre.
Mr Phillips and Mr Fayman managed a $1.4bn global macro fund at BlueBay before their departure in 2014. Glen Point, which follows a similar mandate, trading global markets with a focus on emerging markets, was one of London’s biggest hedge fund launches in recent years in a largely tough environment for start-ups.
Glen Point recently hired Themos Fiotakis, the former head of fundamental strategy across assets at UBS Investment Bank and a former Goldman Sachs strategist, as its head of research in London.
Hedge funds based in London have received a boost from the weakness in sterling against the dollar, as most funds manage money and earn fees in dollars, while their UK-based costs are in sterling.