Now The Big Short star bets Barclays shares will plunge

BARCLAYS boss Jes Staley was dealt a fresh blow last night when it emerged that the New York fund part run by the investor made famous in The Big Short is betting on a fall in the bank’s share price.

Steve Eisman was played by Steve Carell in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film which also starred Brad Pitt and Christian Bale. He now works for Neuberger Berman, but made his name as a hedge fund boss who cashed in by foreseeing the US housing market collapse that triggered the 2008 crash.

The Mail on Sunday revealed in December that Neuberger Berman was betting against Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland over Brexit fears. Now it has emerged that Eisman’s firm is also shorting Barclays.

Short-selling is a trading tactic where investors borrow shares, sell them and later buy them back at a lower price to make a profit.

Neuberger Berman’s Absolute Return Multi-Manager Fund has placed a bet worth £340,000 against Barclays shares.

The company has also ramped up its short positions in Lloyds and RBS, which are now worth £360,000 and £420,000 respectively. Its bets against UK banks top £1.1million, according to short-selling data firm Breakout Point.

Neuberger Berman declined to comment on the short position taken by the fund, which is run by several managers including Eisman. However, last month Eisman revealed he was shorting another British bank amid the Brexit chaos though he declined to name the target. He said at the time that ‘nobody has a freaking clue’ what would happen with the EU negotiations.

Eisman told the BBC in January: ‘The only thing that I know for sure is that the people who invest in the UK believe strongly that the ramifications of a hard Brexit are very bad and they believe that a recession will take place in the UK and that would clearly be negative for banks of the UK.’

Barclays has been battling corporate raider Edward Bramson, who has built up a 5.5 per cent stake and is pushing for a seat on the board.

Last week, chief executive Staley took charge of the prized investment banking arm, ousting boss Tim Throsby after just two years in the post. Staley said returns were getting better and the performance last year was improved ‘but not yet where we need it to be’. Barclays declined to comment. Meanwhile, Neuberger Berman is also shorting Canadian banks and has sounded the alarm about the housing market in Canada. Eisman said: ‘This is not The Big Short: Canada. ‘I’m not calling for a housing collapse. I’m calling for a simple normalisation of credit that hasn’t happened in 20 years.’