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

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.

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

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.

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.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Mamudi at smamudi@bloomberg.net, Alan Mirabella, Josh Friedman

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