Haidar Capital profited from trades on developed market fixed-income and has been bullish on gold and currencies like the Swiss franc, according to Said Haidar, the firm’s founder and chief investment officer. Both Haidar and Counterpoint have been bullish on the yen.
The yuan earlier this month fell to its weakest in 11 years after the central bank set the daily fixing above 7 to the dollar. While PruLev doesn’t have a position in the Chinese currency, it benefited from the U.S. bond rally as the global economic outlook deteriorated, and fears heightened of China using the yuan as a weapon in its escalating trade war with the U.S.
Returns were also boosted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s bigger-than-expected half-point interest rate cut, PruLev portfolio manager August Li said.
Crescat and Counterpoint saw bearish bets on the yuan pay off. Crescat has held that position since late 2014, convinced China’s credit bubble will burst and force a currency devaluation, founder Kevin Smith said.
“We haven’t seen anything compared to what we’re expecting in terms of devaluation,” Smith said in an interview. “When you look at emerging market countries that have had banking and currency crises, a 40% to 50% type of decline is not out of the question.”
This article provided by Bloomberg News.