Michael Platt (financier)

Michael Platt
Born (1968-12-12) 12 December 1968
Preston, England
Residence Geneva, Switzerland
Nationality British
Alma mater London School of Economics
Occupation Investor, fund manager
Net worth GBP £1.5 billion (STRL, April 2015)[1]
$3.5 billion[2]
Website http://www.bluecrestcapital.com/

Michael Platt (born 12 December 1968) is a co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, Principal, and Director of BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP, Europe’s third-biggest hedge-fund firm.[3] Platt co-founded the firm in 2000. Bluecrest is a systematic hedge fund based in London.

Early life

Platt was born in Preston, England.Following in the footsteps of his father - a professor at Manchester University - Platt studied Civil Engineering at Imperial College London. After a year he grew bored and subsequently switched to studying Mathematics and Economics at the London School of Economics, graduating with honours in 1992.[4]

Early career

Platt started in the City when his grandmother gave him some shares to invest in and he discovered a talent. He joined JP Morgan in 1991 as a Managing Director responsible for relative value trading. Platt assumed responsibility for developing J.P. Morgan's swaps and options trading business in April 1992 and in April 1996, became the Head of Trading for all swaps products relating to the 11 founder nations of the European single currency. In 2000 Platt co-founded BlueCrest Capital Management LLP, with William Reeves. [5] [4]

BlueCrest Capital

BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP manages over £30bn, and employs 350 people. [6] BlueCrest initially focused on trading interest rates and using computers to capture trends in bonds and commodities. In 2013 it expanded into trading stocks to compete with Millennium Management LLC and SAC Capital Advisors LLP. [3]

In 2011 George Soros decided to stop managing money for outside clients and turn his hedge-fund firm into a family office. Soros spoke to Platt, asking him to take on more than $1 billion for a 0.5 percent management fee and a 10 percent performance fee. Platt reportedly declined the offer, saying plenty of investors were willing to pay BlueCrest 2-and-20, the industry standard fee structure. [3]

Personal life

Platt is married and lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a notable art collector having built a contemporary art collection not by shopping for pictures, but by commissioning them from well known artists. He has a private showroom in the crypt of a deconsecrated church at One Marylebone, which displays a selection of art by, among others, taxidermist Polly Morgan, the Turner Prize-winning sculptor and installation artist Keith Tyson and Reece Jones [5]

References

  1. ↑ "Sunday Times Rich List". The Sunday Times (page 29). 26 April 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-platt/
  3. 1 2 3 Westbrook, Jesse (Dec 2013). "Man Who Said No to Soros Builds BlueCrest Into Empire". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 Steward, Martin (Aug 2014). "Company Overview of BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP". Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 Barker, Godfrey (Mar 2010). "How Mike Platt and Joe La Placa took over the contemporary art world". Standard. Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Vardi, Nathan (Jan 2012). "The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
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