Former top Tory donor Chris Rokos made a slimmer return for his investors last year after his hedge fund was caught up in the bond market turmoil triggered by Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
Rokos Capital Management, the trader’s eponymous investment business, returned 8.8pc for investors in 2023 after cutting exposure to riskier investments.
The 8.8pc return for 2023 is a significant step down from the 51pc return the fund generated in 2022. Bloomberg first reported the 2023 return figure.
The hedge fund suffered losses after the unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier in the year prompted a surge in bond prices.
Rokos Capital was down around 15pc by the end of March 2023 after it was wrongfooted by the market upheaval.
The fund, which manages $16bn (£12.5bn) on behalf of investors, subsequently shifted its money out of losing positions and had recouped its losses by July. A good second half to the year helped it generate a positive return across the 12 months.
Mr Rokos was a major Tory donor for over a decade, handing the party around £2m between 2009 and 2015. He last donated in 2018 when he gave £70,000.
The 53-year-old made his name as a star trader for Alan Howard, the billionaire founder of Brevan Howard. Mr Rokos single-handedly made annual profits of over $1bn for the fund twice while employed there.
The Eton and Oxford-educated trader left to personally invest his own wealth in 2012. He subsequently took legal action against Brevan Howard to quash a non-compete clause in order to launch his own fund.
Since launching in 2015, Rokos Capital has grown to become one of the largest hedge funds in London, competing with the likes of Marshall Wace and Lansdowne Partners. Rokos Capital is based on Savile Row in Mayfair, the heart of the hedge fund industry.
Mr Rokos rarely gives interviews. In 2010 the Financial Times reported that he was the owner of Domenichino’s 1620 painting “St John the Evangelist,” which was put on display at the National Gallery.
Rokos Capital practises a type of investing known as macro trading, which involves examining the entire universe of stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives to spot trends.
Mr Rokos is chief investment officer of the fund and runs 21 separate teams.
The firm, which employs about 250 people, is unusual in the sector for running one very large fund.
A spokesperson for Rokos Capital declined to comment.
