Platt’s BlueCrest Raising Capital for Feeder Fund

Michael Platt‘s BlueCrest Capital Management is one of Europe’s largest hedge funds, and it is about to get bigger. According to Reuters, the firm “is looking to raise more than £150 million ($235 million) for a new listed feeder fund into its computer-driven BlueTrend fund.” It had rough

BlueTrend is headed by Leda Braga, the firm’s head of systematic trading.  It was one of the few funds to profit in 2008, gaining just under 43%. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the BlueTrend program had assets under management of $13.6 billion, while BlueCrest Capital Management had assets under management of approximately $29 billion.

Last year, BlueTrend made just 0.10% – not bad at all considering the average lost roughly 5% last year. “The main BlueTrend fund has been shut to new investors for the past 18 months,” according to Reuters. “In 2010, BlueCrest shut a EU-regulated Ucits version of BlueTrend due to its inability to replicate sufficiently the performance of the main offshore fund.” The firm is able to launch the new feeder fund after creating extra capacity by enhancing its main fund’s computer systems.

BlueCrest was founded by Michael Platt and William Reeves in 2000. Its headquarters are in Guernsey, but the bulk of its traders are in London and Geneva, a move made in 2010 amidst uncertainty over economic stability in the UK.