Hedge funds, including London’s BlueCrest, Man Group, Greenlight Capital and PointState have emerged as big winners among those betting against the oil price, with PointState said to have booked a $1 billion (£660 million) profit in the past year from the bet.
PointState started shorting the oil price early last year, with its fund manager Zach Schreiber even going public at an investment conference eight months ago to make his predictions of a major fall: “We believe crude oil is going lower,” he told his audience.
“If you are long, I’m sorry for you.” Crude oil, now below $50 a barrel, was $99 a barrel at the time.
David Einhorn the professional poker player who runs the Greenlight Capital hedge fund, shorted oil after hearing Schreiber’s arguments, Bloomberg reported this week.
In London, BlueCrest, run by billionaire Michael Platt, and the hedge fund Marshall Wace are thought to have been among the big winners in the market shorting oil companies’ shares. They both ratcheted up their short positions in December.
The BlueTrend fund, recently spun out of BlueCrest, has jumped 7% since the New Year, a performance largely thought to be thanks to its short bets on the oil price.
The companies declined to comment.
