Andurand Heads for Second Annual Loss Despite October Gain
Andurand Heads for Second Annual Loss Despite October Gain
(Bloomberg) -- Commodities hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand is on track to record a second year of losses amid wild gyrations in the oil market, even as he recovered some of the drop in recent weeks.
Andurand’s Commodities Master Fund is up 0.6% for the first three weeks of the month, according to a person familiar with the matter, trimming losses so far in 2019 to 3.4%. That reverses a 0.6% decline in September, according to an investor document seen by Bloomberg.
A company representative declined to comment.
Oil prices have seen major swings this year, driven by concerns that trade tensions between the U.S. and China would dent the global demand outlook, uncertainty around the effectiveness of OPEC+ supply cuts and various geopolitical tensions in areas ranging from Iran to Venezuela.
Saudi Attack
Last month, an unprecedented attack on Saudi Arabia’s key energy facilities triggered one of the wildest bouts of trading seen in oil markets, with Brent futures rising 19% in a matter of seconds at the open and ending with their biggest single-day advance. Still, many bullish traders saw that risk premium effectively fade away within days as investors refocused on macro recession fears.
Andurand Capital LP, led by the eponymous trader famous for his bullish oil calls, lost 20% in 2018, his first annual decline since opening the fund in 2013. While he had strong gains early on, up double-digit percentages in many years, swings in oil markets have hurt his performance and caused investors to shun the sector. That’s wiped out many of Andurand’s counterparts.
Blenheim Capital Management, once the world’s largest commodities fund, has started to wind down, its founder told Bloomberg last week. In recent years, Precocity Capital, Andy Hall’s Astenbeck Master Commodities Fund II and Jamison Capital Partners’ commodities fund have also shuttered.
There are some new players, as well. The son of Blenheim founder Willem Kooyker plans to launch a new fund this month trading commodities and New York-based Statar Capital LLC, which focuses on natural gas, was up 26% this year through September after starting up just over a year ago. Meanwhile, some former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. commodities executives recently launched an actively managed futures fund.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nishant Kumar in London at nkumar173@bloomberg.net;Catherine Ngai in New York at cngai16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Catherine Traywick
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