(1888PressRelease)
April 07, 2009 - Nor is Howard keen on driving. A chauffeur takes the wheel of his silver Mercedes-Benz to joust with London’s traffic. “I see all these nutty drivers,” says Howard, 45, shaking his head at Brevan Howard’s offices on London’s Baker Street. “I have no interest in getting excited or upset.” As he speaks, Howard sips coffee, and when the cup is drained leaps up to pour more.
Howard’s allergy to hazards of all kinds paid off last year for his business, managing Europe’s biggest hedge fund firm. In February 2008, he began raising cash, betting that the housing downturn in Europe and the U.S. would cause credit markets to seize up. By the end of the year, he had cut his portfolio of bonds and other securities to $10 billion from $50 billion and was 85 percent in cash and short-term securities versus the normal 65 percent.
Partly as a result of these changes, the Brevan Howard Master Fund Ltd. made a 20.4 percent return in a year when the average hedge fund lost 19 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 37 percent. As he moved to cash, Howard locked in profits from a winning bet that the yield curve on U.S. Treasuries would steepen, that is, that the spread would widen between the yields of short- and long-term bonds as the Federal Reserve reduced its target interest rate.
“Like all good traders, Alan knows the value of risk, how much risk he can take and the availability of capital,” says Soloman Mckinley Associates Chairman, James Waters. Waters went on to say “That’s the main differentiation between a good trader and a bad trader, and he was exceptional.”
The Soloman Mckinley Associates Chairman finished his comments by saying “Howard has continued his winning streak into 2009. In the first two months of the year, the Master Fund’s U.S. dollar- denominated Class A shares gained 8.1 percent. The fund, with assets of $20.8 billion as of Dec. 31, has never had a losing year and returned 14.4 percent annualized from its April 2003 inception through the end of 2008.”
Working alongside Industry leaders Soloman Mckinley Associates recognizes the dramatic need for major changes, with a passionate commitment to business growth. Soloman Mckinley Associates provides a full range of integrated services and products simultaneously directed at producing strategically predetermined business and cultural results. We bring together a broad range of talent and resources with a passion for integrity, continuous improvement and the desire to make a difference. This results in prosperity for our customers, society and ourselves.
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