By
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
October 14th, 2021
The BH Digital Multi-Strategy Crypto Fund started trading earlier this month with sizeable internal capital. In the coming quarter, the firm will approach outside clients that can see an inflow of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Over the last year, several hedge funds, pension funds, and other traditional financial players have been making their way into crypto. Hedge fund giant Brevan Howard is among the latest to join the crypto bandwagon.
The firm has launched its crypto fund handled by 10 teams of fund managers. Besides, the fund also has some bold fundraising aspirations said people familiar with the matter. Howard flagship fund – BH Digital Multi-Strategy Fund – started trading earlier this month with sizeable internal capital. “Brevan is making an absolutely massive push into crypto,” one source said.
By the second quarter of 2022, the hedge fund firm will start raising outside money. Expectations are that the fundraising haul will attract at least a few hundred million dollars and also north of a billion dollars. the sources preferred to stay anonymous citing sensitive business dealings.
The crypto fund is also the first investment vehicle of BH Digital, the new Brevan Howard unit dedicated to the firm’s crypto investments. This division already has 25 employees and is scaling fast.
The Investment Style of BH Digital
The BH Digital Multi-Strategy Fund will invest directly in liquid cryptocurrencies. Besides, it will also take venture capital-style stakes in other private blockchain companies.
One of the sources said: “(The firm’s) gone out and got the picks and shovels, but they need to be able to execute that type of strategy”. As a result, BH Digital shall be adding more portfolio managers to their team.
Internal reports suggest that Braven Howard has already started receiving some interest for the new crypto fund from the firm’s institutional limited partners. One source said:
“My understanding is they’ve just been making the internal calls to the large allocators that already have a Brevan product”.
The other source told Blockworks that “with their network already, they’re going to do a great job of cross-selling. They’re going to have a massive raise in the second half of this year”. Braven Howard Co-founder Alan Howard has been already participating in the crypto space for a while.
He has been investing his personal wealth in cryptocurrencies for years. Besides, he has also been backing crypto hedge fund firm One River Digital Asset Management.
