Brevan Howard’s Biggest Fund Said to Avoid Loss on Swiss Turmoil

(Bloomberg) — Brevan Howard Asset Management’s largest hedge fund has so far avoided losses after the Swiss central bank scrapped its cap on the franc, helping the pool to rebound this year, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

The Brevan Howard Master Fund, managed by billionaire Alan Howard, was up 1.88 percent in the month through Jan. 16, compared with 1.09 percent as of Jan. 9, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The pool had a 0.8 percent loss last year, its first annual decline since it started trading in 2003.

The surprise decision on Jan. 15 by the Swiss National Bank to scrap the three-year-old cap sent the franc soaring as much as 41 percent against the euro and triggered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses at European banks and hedge funds.

Marko Dimitrijevic, the hedge fund manager who survived at least five emerging-market debt crises, is closing his largest hedge fund after losses from the SNB’s decision, a person familiar with the firm said last week. BlueCrest Capital Management shut a portfolio run by Peter Von Maydell after losses, a person with knowledge of the decision said yesterday.

Howard’s fund trades currencies, interest rates and bonds to try to take advantage of global economic trends. The pool gained 12.2 percent in 2011, 3.9 percent in 2012 and 2.7 percent in 2013, according to a letter sent to investors. The firm manages about $27 billion, down from $36 billion at Sept. 30. A spokesman for the firm in London declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Will Wainewright in London at [e-mail]; Lindsay Fortado in London at [e-mail] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Evans at [e-mail] Simone Meier