Louis Bacon’s hedge fund brings more of it home

Louis Bacon’s $15bn (£9.3bn) hedge fund Moore Capital boosted profits in its Mayfair office last year despite the loss of one of its star fund managers, Greg Coffey.

Mr Bacon saw the European part of his business generate profits of £36.4m in 2013, according to a filing at Companies House, with turnover from fees up from £95m to £140.2m. The UK division was a big donor to the Tory Party before the last election.

Mr Bacon, 58, founded Moore Capital in 1989 after a career on Wall Street and rose to prominence after making a number of successful financial bets linked to the 1991 Gulf War. He hit the headlines recently over a protracted legal feud with the Canadian clothing mogul Peter Nygard over Clifton Bay in the Bahamas where both men own property.

Although yesterday figures cover only the period ending 31 December, they are significant because Moore has since bolstered its ranks in London by appointing Christian Levett, the founder of the commodities hedge fund Clive Capital, which closed last year, as well as his former chief investment officer, Tristan Almada.

The figures are also noteworthy because they exclude any trading by the Australian Mr Coffey, nicknamed the Wizard of Oz, who retired in October 2012.

Mr Coffey quit Moore Capital at the age of 41 to spend more time with his family, having previously made his name – and a reported $700m fortune – at GLG, where he turned down a $250m golden-handcuffs deal to stay. Having generated returns of about 22 per cent a year since 2004, he joined Moore Capital in 2008, with Mr Bacon describing him as “one of the most impressive traders in the world”.

His obsessive working patterns often meant he would have trading terminals flown to his hotels when he was on holiday. However, following the financial crisis his returns slowed and he is said to have fallen out with Mr Bacon before he quit.

Last week it emerged that Mr Coffey had returned to the hedge fund industry by investing in Abbeville Partners, a start-up run by his former GLG protege James Saltissi. Moore Capital was unavailable for comment.