The hedge fund whose partners are still at school
START-UP hedge fund Heijin Capital has big ambitions, but its backers will have to wait for a return on their investment – because the firm’s partners are still at school. Heijin, named after the Mandarin for ‘black gold’, is the brainchild of six sixthformers. Led by Greg Laurent Josi, 17, Heijin has already raised ‘several millions’ of investment from wealthy individuals – including members of their families. They plan to formally launch the investment firm in the summer, after finishing their A-levels or International Baccalaureate at St Edward’s School, Oxford.
Heijin is currently only authorised to trade virtual money, but claims it has outperformed the stock market. Its founders are working towards obtaining a financial licence that will allow them to trade and manage funds and charge for investment advice. Laurent Josi began studying financial markets when he was 12 and founded the school’s Soros & Loeb financial society, named after billionaire investors George Soros and Daniel Loeb. The partners – who also include Russian billionaire’s son Pasha Tinkov, Finn Leighton, John de Pauw, Max McNicol and James Schofield – founded Heijin Capital last summer.
Its first research note, sent to 100 financial firms, caught the eye of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
The team plan to do City internships this summer before starting university.
Their aim is to scale up Heijin to a fully regulated hedge fund, which typically requires £70 million of funds under management. Laurent Josi said: ‘We would like Heijin to be a significant hedge fund one day.’