BlueCrest Capital Management, Michael Platt’s hedge fund-turned-family office, delivered a stellar 38% return last year, outperforming many peers in a volatile market, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites an unnamed source familiar with the matter as highlighting that the gains, net of fees and expenses, marked a sharp increase from the 20% return BlueCrest recorded in the previous year.
BlueCrest shifted to managing internal capital in 2016 when Platt returned approximately $7bn to outside investors to focus on his wealth and that of his partners. The move allowed the firm to adopt a more aggressive trading approach, unrestrained by client mandates.
Platt, who is among the wealthiest individuals in the UK with a net worth estimated at $9.8bn by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has amplified his fortune through the use of significant leverage to maximise trading returns.
Although the exact amount managed by BlueCrest remains undisclosed, court documents from 2022 indicated the firm oversaw $3.9bn while deploying $15bn in trading power across its strategies. This reflects BlueCrest’s ability to leverage its capital effectively, a hallmark of Platt’s trading style.
The 2024 performance aligns with broader trends in the hedge fund industry, which saw significant gains amid a strong equity market and heightened volatility. Chris Rokos’s Rokos Capital Management reported a 30.7% gain, while Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management surged 52%, and Zach Schreiber’s PointState Capital climbed 47.9%. Jeff Talpins’s Element Capital Management delivered a 22.4% return, according to Bloomberg News.
