Ali Akay Will Launch Carrhae Capital Hedge Fund Next Week

Reuters reports that ex-SAC trader Ali Akay will launch his emerging market equities hedge fund next week. Ali Akay is a native of Turkey and his hedge fund is based in London. He managed to raise around $200 million so far and plans to close the fund after reaching $500 million. He will probably invest in Turkish equities which currently are trading at very attractive multiples. Unfortunately Turkey’s current account deficit is around %10 and its export-driven economy is highly dependent on Europe. If Europe experiences a sharp decline Turkey will experience a sharper decline in which case Turkish equities will probably lose a quarter to a third of their value. So this may not be the best time to invest in emerging markets if you can’t tolerate short-term losses.

Before SAC Capital Ali Akay worked at HBK Investments and Goldman Sachs. Akay graduated from Wharton in 1999. Carrhae  Capital is backed by Blackstone.