Mar 22, 2023
Andurand’s Oil Hedge Fund Slumps 40% as Commodities Retrench
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Famed oil trader Pierre Andurand is emerging as one of the biggest hedge fund losers this year after the banking crisis sent shock waves through commodities markets.
His main Andurand Commodities Discretionary Enhanced Fund has slumped about 40% so far this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Most of the losses have occurred in March, with the fund declining 23% this month through Friday, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.
Oil slumped to its lowest price since 2021 last week as concerns about banks’ health that began with SVB Financial Group rippled across the world, raising fears of an economic downturn that would slash energy demand. Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded as low as $71.40 a barrel on Friday and was down about 15% this year through the end of last week.
Andurand, who runs the fund with a high-conviction strategy with no set risk limits, has predicted that oil prices may exceed $140 a barrel this year. He has said the recent fall was not backed by fundamentals and all the indicators he uses were getting more bullish.
Read More: Top Oil Traders Say Crude Prices Won’t Stay Down for Long
The losses this year are enough to wipe out all of last year’s gains. His fund surged 154% in 2020, 87% in 2021 and 59% in 2022. At one point last year, his fund was up as much as 160% but gave up most of this rise during the second half of the year as the price of oil sank.
He’s among several high-profile hedge fund traders caught out by market movements this year. Said Haidar’s Jupiter macro money pool is down 44% this year following wild bond swings. Billionaire Chris Rokos also saw his macro hedge fund lose 15.3% this month through Friday, erasing all his gains this year and taking the fund down almost 10% year-to-date, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
A spokesperson for Andurand Capital Management, which manages a total of $1.4 billion, declined to comment.
--With assistance from Grant Smith.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
