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Michael Hintze’s Hedge Fund Gains 21% to Partly Recover Record 2020 Loss

Michael  Hintze’s Hedge Fund Gains 21% to Partly Recover Record 2020 Loss

Michael Hintze made 21.4% in his flagship fund last year, helping to pare some of his record loses from the previous year.

His flagship CQS Directional Opportunities fund posted the best performance in five years, according to an investor update. That compares with about a 10% gain for a basket of hedge funds tracked by Bloomberg. 

Michael Hintze’s Hedge Fund Gains 21% to Partly Recover Record 2020 Loss

The gains were not enough to recoup all of the 34.8% losses booked in 2020 following the implosion of its structured credit bets. The hedge fund was one of the biggest losers during the onset of the pandemic about two years ago as global economies froze. 

A spokesman for the London-based investment firm had no immediate comment.

The fund, which Hintze manages himself, reported assets had declined to $1.2 billion, down from about $3 billion before the losses. CQS manages about $21 billion firm-wide, according to a separate letter dated November 2021.

CQS regrouped in 2020 amid the losses and shut its non-core strategies to refocus on credit investing. The firm cut costs, reduced staff and rolled back an ambitious expansion. In November of that year, Hintze stepped up succession planning by forming a group of senior partners. 

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