Michael Platt (financier)

Michael Platt
Born Michael Edward Platt
(1968-12-12) 12 December 1968[1]
Preston, England
Residence Jersey
Nationality British
Alma mater London School of Economics
Occupation Investor, fund manager, and philanthropist
Known for Co-founding BlueCrest Capital Management
Net worth US$3.5 billion (March 2017)[2]
Title CEO, BlueCrest Capital Management
Website http://www.bluecrestcapital.com/

Michael Edward Platt (born 12 December 1968)[1] is an English investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and managing director of BlueCrest Capital Management, Europe's third-largest hedge-fund firm.[3] He co-founded the firm in 2000. Bluecrest is a systematic hedge fund based in London.[4]

Early life and education

Platt was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and studied Civil Engineering at Imperial College London. After a year, he switched to Mathematics and Economics at the London School of Economics.[5]

Investment career

Early career

Platt started in the City after his grandmother gave him some shares in which to invest and he discovered he had a talent.[6][1][7]

He joined JP Morgan in 1991. Platt assumed responsibility for developing JP 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 founding nations of the European single currency. In 2000 Platt co-founded BlueCrest Capital Management LLP, with William Reeves.[8][9]

BlueCrest Capital

BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP manages over £30bn, and employs 350 people.[10] BlueCrest initially focused on trading interest rates and using computer algorithms to capture trends in bonds and commodities.

In 2013 it expanded into trading equity to compete with Millennium Management LLC and SAC Capital Advisors LLP.[11]

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.[12]

In December 2015, Platt announced that BlueCrest would return $7 billion for outside investors, take no outside money in the future, and become a private partnership.[13][14]

Personal life

In 2010, he moved from London to Geneva, Switzerland, to save tax and avoid increased regulation. In 2014, it was reported that he had relocated to Jersey, along with his hedge fund, which was moving from nearby Guernsey, for tax purposes.[15][13][16]

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 [17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Michael Platt profile". Octafinance.com. 12 December 1968. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "The World's Billionaires: Michael Platt". Forbes. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Westbrook, Jesse (20 December 2013). "Man Who Said No to Soros Builds BlueCrest Into Empire". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Michael Edward PLATT - Personal Appointments". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Steward, Martin. "Company Overview of BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP". Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Levin, Bess (14 April 2012). "BlueCrest Capital Founder Turned On To Trading By Grandmother". Dealbreaker. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Godfrey Barker (18 March 2010). "How Mike Platt and Joe La Placa took over the contemporary art world". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  8. ↑ Barker, Godfrey. "How Mike Platt and Joe La Placa took over the contemporary art world". Standard. Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Steward, Martin. "Company Overview of BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP". Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Vardi, Nathan (Jan 2012). "The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Westbrook, Jesse (20 December 2013). "Man Who Said No to Soros Builds BlueCrest Into Empire". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Westbrook, Jesse (20 December 2013). "Man Who Said No to Soros Builds BlueCrest Into Empire". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  13. 1 2 Vardi, Nathan (1 December 2015). "Billionaire Michael Platt Closes His BlueCrest Hedge Fund". Forbes. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  14. ↑ Stevenson, Alexandra; Goldstein, Matthew (1 December 2015). "BlueCrest to Close Hedge Fund and Refund Outside Investors". nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Fortado, Lindsay (10 December 2014). "BlueCrest’s Founder Platt Said to Move to Jersey From Geneva". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "Michael Platt: One of the Most Effective Risk Managers". Uk.advfn.com. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  17. ↑ Barker, Godfrey. "How Mike Platt and Joe La Placa took over the contemporary art world". Standard. Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
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