Star hedge fund manager Chris Rokos continues

There are very few hedge fund managers who can earn $ 1bn once they lose investors one-fourth of their investment. But Chris Rokos is one businessman whose star is more popular than he is in a short period of time.

The shy billionaire journalist, who was the former general manager of Brevan Howard’s fund before launching $ 13bn-in-asset Rokos Capital Management in 2015, endured his worst time in 2021 in the bond market.

As the highest he will be wounded of aggressive trading in long-term bonds in the autumn, faced the October crisis and sent a huge annual loss to his company, losing 26 percent – or about $ 4bn.

However his London company said so was quickly taken $ 1bn from foreign investors in recent days and want to add more. The fundraiser was aided by Rokos who had been active for a long time, including a major benefit at the start of the epidemic. Notably, they come as many competitors struggling with money laundering.

“[Rokos] has earned a lot of brownie points by giving back in the most difficult areas of 2020, “says Amin Rajan, chief of the research institute.

A lover and participant according to his acquaintances, Rokos, who declined to speak to the Financial Times, is known for his straightforward actions and mathematical problem solving that may seem to others as geeky.

Born in London, he attended public school until the age of 11, before graduating from Eton College and then taking his first degree at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he is a major financier and where the quad is now named. After working for Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston, where he worked with businessman Alan Howard, he introduced Brevan Howard – one of the biggest names in big business – to become an “R” in Brevan.

An expert in trading with government bonds and options and betting on so-called currencies – the interest paid by various credit ratings – has earned billions of dollars in investments on time in the company.

In 2007 he made $ 1.1bn, or 27 percent of the total revenue of Brevan’s flagship Master fund, according to a court ruling, and in 2011 he earned about $ 1.3bn, or 30 percent of his profits – a result he saw as a “perfect year” to do. well, according to someone familiar with his ideas.When he was at the company he earned about $ 900m.

Rokos is one of the most talented executives in the world in performing key roles in debt and decision-making, said one of his acquaintances. “When they get it right, they can get it,” he added.

In Brevan he was one of the most well-known voices at corporate morning business meetings. He encouraged a strict financial management system, saying that unscrupulous entrepreneurs should be fired immediately and that the first year of business should be seen as a job interview, a person who knows his or her mind.

But in 2012 he on the left Brevan is following up on a dispute with Co-Founder Howard over his pay for a job last year, according to someone familiar with the matter. Disagreements with the company escalated when Rokos was banned from setting up his own financial management company with a five-year non-compliant sentence.

This turned out to be a violation of the law when Rokos appealed the decision to a Jersey court in 2014. In court letters, his judges. argued to prevent him from running a hedge fund would mean “people. . . they will be taken away [his] skill and hard work ”.

Although the war, Rokos and Howard remained in love, people who knew them said. Major criminal cases were avoided during the dispute eliminated early next year, allowing Rokos Capital to launch. Howard, who did not want the Rokos to leave without paying anything back, according to a well-informed man, could spend his money on a new fund, while Brevan shares in the Rokos company.

Encouraged by funding from major investors including Blackstone, it has grown to become one of the largest investments in the world. A 44 percent return in 2020 helped him and his teammates benefits more than £ 900m.

His estimated wealth is £ 1.25bn, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. This sometimes makes him appear in public, as in 2007, when he was planning to set up a 16ft deep pool and a long board under his Notting Hill apartment made headlines, and most recently it was reported that he was suing Deloitte and the US. law firm McDermott, Will & Emery on tax advice received.

A British diplomat who remained in the EU and had previously provided significant support to the Conservative Party, Rokos a few years ago. checked investing in the British political magazine Standpoint, before choosing the “right way to go” was in conflict with “its preconceived notions”, the spokesman said at the time.

In an area that has struggled for years to attract new revenue due to frequent shortages, Rokos’ ability to earn money reflects the gravitational pull that few star merchants still control, even when short-term employment is scarce.

But some warn that the patience of investors may be limited. “If. . . he has another bad year, all gambling is over, ”said Rajan of Create Research.

Laurence.fletcher@ft.com