BlueCrest Capital Management

Last updated

BlueCrest Capital Management
Company type Private
Industry Investment management
Founded2000;25 years ago (2000)
Founders Michael Platt
William Reeves
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Number of employees
600 (2015)
Website bluecrestcapital.com [ dead link ]

BlueCrest Capital Management is a British-American investment management firm founded in 2000 by Michael Platt and William Reeves. [1] Originally launched as a multi-strategy hedge fund, the firm returned external capital in 2015 and converted into a family office. The firm previously spun out its systematic trading arm as Systematica Investments in 2014. The firm maintains office locations in London, New Jersey, Singapore and New York. [2]

Contents

History

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 only 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]

BlueCrest continued expanding its trading teams after becoming a family office, hiring additional portfolio managers across macro and relative-value strategies beginning in 2020. [11]

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. [12]

The fund generated returns of 153% in 2022, 20% in 2023 and 38% in 2024. [13] [2] [14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Michael Platt And William Reeves Bio, Returns, Net Worth". Insider Monkey. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 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. ↑ "BlueCrest to expand trading teams - Hedgeweek". 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  12. ↑ Michaels, Dave (8 December 2020). "BlueCrest Capital Management to Pay $170 Million to Settle SEC Claims". Wall Street Journal.
  13. ↑ "BlueCrest's 153% Surge Makes Platt a Bigger Billionaire". Bloomberg.com. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Michael Platt's Trading Firm BlueCrest Gained 38% Last Year". Bloomberg. 8 January 2025.