Ray Dalio’s Pure Alpha II Funds Loses Money for First Time Since 2000

(Bloomberg) -- Ray Dalio suffered his first annual loss since 2000 in his most prominent fund.

Bridgewater Associates Pure Alpha II fund fell 0.5% last year, even as many of his peers posted some of their best returns since 2008.

It was the fourth time he has lost money in a calendar year since starting Pure Alpha II in 1991, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and a person familiar with the results.

Macro managers last year had their best performance since 2014. The Bloomberg Macro Hedge Fund Index rose 6.4%, according to preliminary figures published on Tuesday.

Dalio, whose firm manages about $80 billion in so-called macro funds, has had an annualized return of about 4% since the end of 2011 -- even after his Pure Alpha II fund jumped almost 15% in 2018. Since inception, the fund gained 11.5% on an annual basis.

Read: Dalio is more famous than ever and posting subpar returns

Here are some other returns for macro managers:

• Alan Howard’s Brevan Howard Master Fund returned 8.4% last year
• Bradley Wickens’s Broad Reach Fund returned 42.3% for 2019
• Greg Coffey’s Kirkoswald Asset Management was up 29% through October.

Institutional Investor earlier reported Bridgewater’s results. A representative for the firm declined to comment.

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