Abu Dhabi
Brevan Howard Asset Management has turned Abu Dhabi into its biggest risk-taking center, marking one of the most aggressive moves among firms that have set up in the city.
The macro-trading investment firm now runs about $10 billion from the emirate's international financial free-zone, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That's just under a third of its total assets and more than it manages from London or New York.
Brevan Howard opened its office at the Abu Dhabi Global Market last February and has since grown its local team to more than 80, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. The firm is looking to add an additional floor to accommodate staff scrambling to move, they said.
A spokesperson for Brevan Howard, which manages about $35 billion, declined to comment.
Big-name Brevan Howard portfolio managers moving to Abu Dhabi include Ville Helske and Louis Basger. Members of a team that runs funds under the European Union's UCITS Directive, including money managers Paul Shanta and Peter Meiklejohn, have also relocated to the emirate.
Kaspar Ernst, who was based in Hong Kong and rejoined Brevan Howard after a sabbatical, is spending a significant amount of his time in Abu Dhabi, the people said. Singapore-based Minal Bathwal, another senior portfolio manager, visits the office frequently, they added.
In a rare public appearance last year, billionaire Alan Howard said Abu Dhabi could become a global financial center. As more hedge funds move in, banks will also relocate their senior staff to service them, creating a trading ecosystem, Howard said at the time.
The emirate, home to wealth funds that control over $1.5 trillion in assets, has made significant efforts to transform itself into a major hub. Pitching itself as the "capital of capital," the city has managed to lure titans of investing like Ray Dalio, who has opened a branch of his family office there. Chris Hohn's TCI Fund Management and Greg Coffey's Kirkoswald Asset Management have also taken licenses recently.
While the city's sovereign wealth funds and English law are a major attraction for investment firms, traders have also been lured by the lack of income tax and a favorable time zone. The number of asset managers operating in Abu Dhabi's financial free-zone stood at 102 at the end of last year, with institutions overseeing $452 billion globally committing to opening an operation, according to the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
Brevan Howard started the Abu Dhabi outpost with its senior strategist Abhijit Chakrabortti moving in January last year. It now houses a significant proportion of the firm's digital assets trading team — Ryan Taylor, the fund's compliance head and chief administrative officer of Brevan Howard Digital, relocated last year.
The firm recently appointed Oualid Lahsini, previously a partner at Ares Management and head of Middle East and Africa relationship management, as chief executive officer of its Middle East business.
Brevan Howard is one of the world's most vaunted so-called macro hedge funds, which try to profit from broad macroeconomic trends. The Jersey, Channel Islands-based money manager's main fund reported an estimated 3.2% loss in February after bets on falling U.S. interest rates backfired, Bloomberg News reported this week.
