• BH Digital’s Q1 return of 34.5% propelled total gains to nearly 51%, contrasting with other funds’ lackluster performance.

  • Bitcoin surged 50% in Q1 2024, contributing to BH Digital’s success despite a brief drop due to US inflation.

  • Brevan Howard’s traditional funds struggled, with the Master Fund down 2% and Alpha Strategies down 1.3%.

Bloomberg reported that Brevan Howard Asset Management’s cryptocurrency fund, BH Digital, has emerged as a saving grace for the firm as it returned 34.5% in Q1 2024, bringing total gains to nearly 51% since launch. This contrasts with the lackluster performance of its other funds in the current macro trading environment.

According to sources familiar with the matter, BH Digital, managing roughly $1.7 billion in assets, delivered a stellar 34.5% return in the first quarter of 2024. The impressive performance of BH Digital is attributed to the significant rise in cryptocurrency values. 

Bitcoin, for example, witnessed a surge of about 50% from the end of March 2022 through Q1 2024. Its price dropped after a higher-than-expected US inflation report, briefly falling below $68,500. Buyers stepped in near $67,500, pushing the price back up above $69,000.

This year’s gains add to BH Digital’s success in 2023, marking a fruitful expansion into the crypto space for Brevan Howard, traditionally known for its expertise in macro trading. In contrast to BH Digital’s success, Brevan Howard’s other divisions have experienced underwhelming performance due to the challenging macro trading environment. 

The firm’s flagship Master Fund, managing around $12 billion, remained down by about 2% this year (through April 5th), despite reducing losses on previous interest rate bets. 

Similarly, the Alpha Strategies fund, with approximately $12.5 billion in assets, suffered a loss of around 1.3% over the same period. This stands in contrast to the 6% gain in the Bloomberg Macro Hedge Fund Index so far in 2024.

Brevan Howard has been actively expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency space since establishing BH Digital in September 2021. The European hedge fund acquired Dragonfly Capital’s crypto fund, Liquid Opportunities, to integrate into its existing crypto and digital assets division

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