Crispin Odey’s hedge fund is up 145% so far this year, largely due to shorting UK gilts, according to sources quoted in Reuters.
Odey’s firm, Odey Asset Management, which manages £4bn in assets, made most of its money this year through betting against government bonds as inflation forces banks to raise interest rates.
According to the Reuters source, some of the bonds date out as far as 2071, with Odey entering a short position against a UK 2061 cash bond when yields were as low as 0.5%.
This week, the 10-year gilt yield hit 3.392%, its highest position since July 2011, with the figure shooting up around 250 basis points so far this year, its biggest price surge since 1994.
Odey, who was a vocal and leading backer of Brexit, made his name during the 2008 financial crisis when he made a fortune shorting banking shares.
His hedge fund is known for taking big positions leading to volatile performances with big gains or losses.