Alan Howard, the secretive trader at the helm of Brevan Howard Asset Management, and the third-richest hedge fund manager in the UK, has moved to Geneva in a move that will play into the hands of sceptics who question the UK's claim to be Europe's leading centre for hedge funds.

Until now Howard, the principal risk taker at $30bn (€24.6bn) hedge fund firm Brevan Howard, has lived in St John's Wood in London, travelling daily to Brevan Howard's London office, housed in the old Marks and Spencer building on Baker Street. He gave notice of his move today in a regulatory announcement to the London Stock Exchange.