The LSE Directory / Hedge funds
Brevan Howard Asset Management is a global macro hedge fund manager that trades interest rates, foreign exchange, credit and other macro instruments using a mix of discretionary and systematic approaches. The firm now describes itself as a global alternative investment management platform spanning macro and digital assets, running multi-portfolio-manager strategies, single-portfolio-manager strategies and thematic co-investment opportunities for institutional clients such as sovereign wealth funds, pension plans, foundations and endowments. The firm differentiates itself through scale and organisational structure rather than a single strategy: it employs more than 1,000 people and over 150 portfolio managers across nine office hubs, including London, New York, Geneva, Jersey, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Bengaluru and Austin. Its stated investment process rests on three pillars, macro research, trade structuring using options and derivatives to build asymmetric risk-reward positions, and decentralised risk management with stress testing built into each portfolio manager's process. Since 2021 it has also run BH Digital, a dedicated digital asset division that gives institutional investors access to crypto trading strategies and blockchain venture investments, supported around the clock across the firm's global offices. Brevan Howard was founded in 2002 by Alan Howard together with fellow former Credit Suisse traders Chris Rokos, Jean-Philippe Blochet, James Vernon and Trifon Natsis, who combined portions of their surnames to name the firm. It is based in Jersey with funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Assets under management have fluctuated considerably over its history, from about $10.5 billion in 2006 to a peak of roughly $40 billion in October 2013, down to about $18 billion in 2016 and around $10 billion in 2020, before recovering to roughly $26 billion in October 2022. Aron Landy, chief risk officer since the firm's founding, became CEO in October 2019, succeeding Alan Howard. The flagship fund's best recorded year was 2020, with a 99 percent return during the pandemic, while 2014 brought its first annual loss. The firm's BH Digital Asset fund, launched in 2021, gained 43 percent in 2023 and 52 percent in 2024 before losing about 29.5 percent in 2025, its worst year since inception and a period in which it underperformed bitcoin, which fell around 6 percent over the same period, according to a Financial Times report relayed by CoinDesk. BH Digital has continued to invest in the sector regardless, including a Series B investment in Superstate announced in January 2026.
