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| 15. Michael Platt / $260 million | ||
| Title: Co-founder and chief executive officerFirm: BlueCrest Capital Management (Jersey)Age: 472015 Rank: No. 152015 Earnings: $260 million2014 Rank: No. 62014 Earnings: $800 millionYears on list: 5 | Source of 2015 earnings: Fees on assetsEducation: BSc, London School of Economics and Political Science | |
This is Michael Platt’s swan song on the Rich List. On December 1 the co-founder of Jersey-based BlueCrest Capital Management announced he will return the $8 billion or so he was investing for clients and will only manage money for partners and employees. Platt, who makes most of his money from fees, has seen his assets under management take a big dive in recent years. His firm ran more than $32 billion as recently as two years ago, about the time Platt was telling people he hoped to grow to $50 billion. Alas, since then BlueCrest has suffered a rash of redemptions, and in late 2014 the firm spun off its $9.2 billion quantitative trading business into Systematica Investments, headed by Leda Braga, who qualifies this year for the Second Team (page TK). BlueCrest was not helped by reports that global pension consulting firm Albourne Partners questioned the firm’s internal hedge fund, BlueCrest Staff Managed Account, which is offered only to its partners and has performed much better than the funds offered to the general public. (The CEO has called the fund a retention tool for staff and said the firm followed procedures to ensure there were no conflicts of interest.) Platt is one of five members of this year’s main list to qualify despite posting a loss in at least one of their funds. Last year his flagship BlueCrest Capital International fund declined by 0.63 percent. Even so, since its 2000 inception the firm has generated more than $22 billion in trading profits for its investors, helped in part by the 43 percent gain in the BlueTrend Fund in 2008, when many hedge funds were down by double digits amid the financial crisis.
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