It is always hard to be sure who has the best-performing hedge fund, but London’s BlueGold looks like it could be the winner for last year.
With a rise of 210 per cent, tripling investors’ money, the oil and commodities specialist set up in February soared ahead of rivals – most of whom lost money.
BlueGold was set up by Dennis Crema and Pierre Andurand, former oil traders who successfully rode the oil boom of the first half of the year and then timed the bust almost perfectly.
A handful of other commodities hedge funds also produced outstanding returns, even as some high-profile funds imploded when the commodities bubble burst.
Clive Capital’s Clive fund, set up by ex-Moore Capital trader Christian Levett in London in late 2007, was up 44 per cent in the year to Christmas, according to investors. Red Kite Metals – the riskiest of three volatile base metals funds from Michael Farmer and David Lilley’s RK Capital from London and New York – also made money, although it gave back a lot of the profits it made in the first half of the year.
Aside from the commodities funds, computerised traders also did well. Managed futures, which typically use computers to pick up trends, produced strong returns across the board, with the highly volatile Mulvaney fund, run from London, up almost 100 per cent.
Cedar Hill Capital Partners – sued by Elliott Associates a year ago when Elliott claimed it stole software for analysing complex credit products – was another strong contender for the best-performing fund, reporting a return of more than 100 per cent.
A round-up of some other profitable funds featured in the FT today.
If anyone knows of a fund doing better than BlueGold’s 210 per cent, send FT Alphaville the details.