London — Taylor Woods Capital Management, one of the world’s best performing hedge fund firms in 2015, lost 7.3 per cent in the first five months of the year as bets on commodities soured, according to a letter to investors seen by Bloomberg.
The Taylor Woods Master Fund Ltd., run by George “Beau” Taylor, lost money every month, the longest losing stretch since 2011, the letter showed. While the fund profited from its bets on metals in May, speculation in energy markets triggered a 1.2 per cent decline for the period. Officials at the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm didn’t respond to phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
After four years of haemorrhaging cash and clients, many commodity hedge funds are recovering this year, spurred by rallies in oil as well as gold and soybeans. Average returns were 6 per cent in the first four months of the year, after a loss of 10.4 per cent last year, according to data from eVestment. Hedge funds in general returned 0.8 per cent on average this year after losing 2.2 per cent in 2015.
The returns are attracting new clients who have invested a net $5 billion into commodities funds in 2016, with the first quarter seeing the biggest inflows since 2009, eVestment said.
Taylor, 45, cofounded the fund with Trevor Woods, his former colleague from Credit Suisse Group AG’s global commodities team. Blackstone Group LP provided $150 million in initial capital. The fund gained 18.4 per cent last year to win a place in Bloomberg’s ranking of the top-performing hedge funds with assets of $1 billion or more.
