Daily Mail

Hedge fund tycoon makes £100m from Italy turmoil

-

A BILLIONAIR­E hedge fund boss could scoop a pay-out of more than £100million after gambling on political turmoil in Europe.

Alan Howard’s £1.7billion fund is thought to have bet big on upheaval across the Continent as Italy’s new anti- establishm­ent coalition squared up to the European Union.

The political row triggered falls in stock markets and a slump in the price of Italian debt, giving a boost to speculator­s seeking a fast profit from crashes.

These market moves helped Mr Howard’s fund, AH, surge by 36.7 per cent in May alone – adding hundreds of millions of pounds to its value.

He gets a 30 per cent cut of annual profits from the fund, meaning a likely pay-out of more than £100million based on last month’s rise.

His windfall will infuriate critics who claim that super-rich hedge fund bosses seek to profit from downturns that hurt ordinary savers. Mr Howard, 54, quit Britain for Switzerlan­d in 2010 after the Labour Government brought in a 50 per cent income tax rate on top earners.

The married father of four, who has a £22million penthouse in New York’s Trump Tower, moved back to London last year, saying this was for family reasons.

During the Italian crisis, there was a massive sell-off of the nation’s government bonds due to fears that it would face an economic crisis and be unable to pay off its debts. Bank shares also fell sharply.

The nation has since backed away from new elections, meaning markets have recovered some lost ground.

Mr Howard told the Financial Times: ‘I’m happy that the loyalty and confidence shown by my investors has been rewarded.’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom