Ovata Capital, the multi-strategy hedge fund set up by former BlueCrest traders, posted its best-ever annual performance since its inception in 2017.

The firm returned over 18% net of fees with all business units contributing to the fund’s gains, partner Rodrigo Rodriguez told Financial News in an interview. Rodrigo spent more than six years as an event-driven portfolio manager at BlueCrest. In 2019, Ovata's returns were flat as the business underwent a period of consolidation following large inflows.

Ovata is focussed on five strategies: global event, long/short, relative value, index arbitrage and ECM and is therefore positioned to offer "uncorrelated diversified returns in all weathers'', according to Rodriguez. The global event strategy was the largest contributor to last year’s outperformance.

Hedge funds overall have had a harder time beating soaring benchmark indexes. Global hedge funds have returned more than 8% in their first 11 months of last year, according to hedge fund tracking firm Eurekahedge. The S&P 500 ended the year up more than 18%.

The Covid pandemic has resulted in some high-level hedge fund casualties. The Financial Times reported 6 January that Winton Capital’s assets had fallen $26bn from a high after the pandemic clobbered markets last year. Bloomberg reported that Crispin Odey's flagship Odey European Inc hedge fund tumbled 30.5% in 2020 — the fifth annual decline in six years.