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25/06/2016

Despite Brexit Vote Results, Crispin Odey’s Main Hedge Fund Said to Gain 15%




Despite Brexit Vote Results, Crispin Odey’s Main Hedge Fund Said to Gain 15%
Gaining exclusive information from a private poll conducted ahead of the vote on the U.K.’s referendum on membership of the European Union, hedge-fund manager Crispin Odey gained more than 15 percent in his flagship hedge fund on Friday.
 
Various market sources in London were quoted in the media as saying that the short positions which have been in place since last year by Bottom of Form

Odey European Inc., a unit of Odey’s $10.2 billion London-based firm, helped making the gains.
 
Odey, 57, did not immediately answer an e-mail seeking comment.
  
Odey told The Evening Standard newspaper on Wednesday that the private poll he had conducted shown that the vote on membership of the political bloc would be much closer than stock markets suggested.
 
Bets on macro-economic trends are done by Odey Asset Management. Helped by short positions in equities and long positions in the U.S. dollar and gold, another of the firm’s funds, Absolute Return Focus, was up about 4.5 percent.
 
Odey had spoken in favor of Brexit before the vote and his $10.2 billion London-based hedge fund bets on macro-economic trends. This year through June 15, his flagship fund Odey European was down 24.8 percent.
 
In its biggest drop since 2004, London’s largest homebuilder, Berkeley Group Holdings Plc, closed down 21 percent after the announcement of the results Brexit referendum. According to data from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, the two biggest short positions against the homebuilder were held by Odey Asset Management and Marshall Wace.
 
“This reflects proper disaffection in a world of low growth and almost no productivity growth which can only get worse if unanswered. People want honest appraisals, they need structures that humanize them, leaders that they can know and communicate with. This is a black day for those who would prefer decisions to be made in darkened rooms by experts," he said. 
 
While even in the chaos, some trades paid off, markets were roiled after U.K. voters decided to quit the European Union.
 
U.K. homebuilder Taylor Wimpey Plc whiles shares fell 29 percent on Friday because of concern that demand for home buying will slow down was the worst hit company on the FTSE 100following the news of Brexit referendum on Thursday. According to data compiled by Bloomberg from a regulatory filing, UBS Group AG’s stake -- which typically represents holdings on behalf of clients -- increased to 2.5 percent as of June 3. Credit Suisse Group AG’s ownership, also typically held for clients, almost halved to 0.5 percent. Holdings are as of the latest regulatory filings.
 
Even as the FTSE 100 Index fell, bringing gains for the year to 16 percent, British American Tobacco Plc jumped 2.6 percent on the day. Making Los Angeles-based fund company Capital Group it the company’s second-largest owner with 5.6 percent, it boosted its stake in the cigarette maker during 2016 by about 24 million shares.
 
Eton Park Capital Management, which bought 1.2 percent of the exchange-traded fund in the first quarter was among the beneficiaries.
 
(Source:www.bloomberg.com) 

Christopher J. Mitchell

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