Fund ‘heading for worst year yet’ pays out £106m

STAFF at Brevan Howard Asset Management have received a windfall of more than £106m as the hedge fund headed into its worst year ever.

Accounts filed at Companies House reveal that it paid out a total £106.5m to traders and other employees, up from £100m in 2016. This was shared among 28 partners, with the highest-paid member landing a £37.4m payout, down from £43.1m last year.

Revenues rose 5pc from £115.9m in 2016 to £121.6m, and operating profits increased from £116.9m to £121.8m in the 12 months to March 31 2017. It came as the hedge fund, which was once one of the world’s biggest, prepared for its worst year on record.

Bloomberg reported that investors withdrew $5.4bn (£4bn) from the firm’s main fund in the year to October, and it was anticipating a further $1bn of client withdrawals in December.

Outflows have hit the firm for some time: in October it had $10bn of assets under management, down from $40bn at its peak.

It came as annual profits at Crispin Odey’s hedge fund more than halved to £18.6m.

Assets under management have tumbled too, from $10.3bn to $6.1bn during the 12 months to April 5 2017, with performance fees at Odey Asset Management down from £19.2m last year, to just £60,000.

In the days after the EU referendum, Mr Odey, a high-profile backer of the Leave campaign, made £220m and predicted that UK shares would slump by 80pc.

Brevan Howard could not be reached for comment.