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BlueGold Capital Management
$90 Million
The launch of an aggressive new commodities-trading hedge fund by Pierre Andurand and Dennis Crema was timely. They had a breakout year, more than tripling their clients’ money after opening London-based BlueGold Capital Management in February 2008. The duo generated a stunning 209.7 percent net return in just 11 months by betting on the right directions of oil, natural gas and coal to make their debut on Alpha’s list of top earners.
Drawing on both fundamental research and technical analysis, Andurand and Crema profited from the rising energy markets in the early part of the year. Following a difficult July, in which their fund was down 19 percent, they deftly switched to the short side as prices fell.
Andurand and Crema honed their considerable investment skills at privately held Vitol Group, the world’s biggest oil trading company. Andurand, 32, a Frenchman with a master’s degree in international finance and an engineering degree in applied mathematics, was an energy derivatives trader at Vitol from 2003 to 2007, first in Singapore and then in London. In 2004 he was one of the first traders to call for a demand-based rally in oil prices to $100 a barrel (it was then trading at about $30). Andurand is chief investment officer and a managing partner of BlueGold.
Crema, an American, built up a 50-person team of energy traders during his 12-year stint at Vitol in London, focusing on both the physical and derivatives markets. Before joining Vitol in 1995, Crema, now 48, spent four years at petroleum refiner Tosco Corp. in Philadelphia. At BlueGold, Crema, who has a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, is CEO, head of the risk committee and a managing partner.
