(Bloomberg) -- Crispin Odey, whose main fund has seen excruciating losses and spectacular gains, is opening up his firm’s best performing money pool to external investors.
The Odey Concentrated Natural Resources fund, managed by Henry Steel, has gained 32% since inception in March through the end of August, according to an investor update seen by Bloomberg. The MSCI Natural Resources index lost 7.7% during the period.
The fund can raise as much as $400 million. A spokesman for Odey Asset Management declined to comment.
The launch is one of the ways Odey is trying to revive the fortunes of his firm after seeing a rapid decline in assets. His contrarian views have led to step losses, and firm-wide assets have shrunk to $4 billion from $13 billion in 2015.
His flagship Odey European Inc. fund returned 53% in 2018, its first gain in four years, after losing 67% between January 2015 and December 2017.
The natural resources fund runs a concentrated portfolio of equities and has made most of its money by shorting energy companies, according to the investor update. Bearish bets on Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. have been the biggest contributor to returns.
While MiFID II market regulation has resulted in less research on mid-size and small-cap stocks, it has created an opportunity for some money managers to pick overlooked shares.
In the case of Odey’s natural resources fund, this has allowed the firm to make gains with companies like Acacia Mining Plc, in which they hold a long position, according to the update.
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