A rising star hedge fund manager won £110million by betting against the pound ahead of Britain’s vote on the European Union.
James Hanbury, who manages £1.1billion for Odey Asset Management, went against complacency in the rest of the market which assumed Remain would win the historic referendum.
He guessed that Britain might shock the world by voting to Leave – and that the value of sterling would plunge as a result. Mr Hanbury, 36, commissioned a private poll which put Remain narrowly ahead.
But he decided to take a risk on the basis there was a lot to gain and little to lose, given the pound might drop massively if Britain quit but was unlikely to rise much higher if it voted to stay.
And the father-of-three, who lives in a £3.4million house in London’s super-rich West Kensington neighbourhood, won big.
4 comments:
Since it was so close, he might as well have put it all on black at the casino.
Indeed M. But since gov' finances are likely to plunge deeper into the red now...putting it on red at the casino might have been even more appropriate.
M, as the man explained, potential rise in gbp was much smaller than potential fall, even if the odds were 50-50.
"It was the butler in the pantry of a £4 million mansion with a candlestick"
M, do the FCA let you do that with client money these days? I'd have thought you'd have to enter into a derivative contract with an authorised counterparty that settles against the ball landing on either red or black for it to be legal?
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