Net asset value per share fell 4.4% in sterling and 0.3% in US dollars. This was despite NAV per share benefiting from a 1.2% sterling uplift and 4.5% US dollar boost as a result of the tender offer.
During the year, BH Macro opened a tender offer. 48% of investors chose to sell their shares back to the firm at 96% net asset value.
"The company's performance is directly related to the performance of Brevan Howard Master Fund Ltd into which the company invests substantially all of its assets," BH Macro Chairman Huw Evans said. "In recent years, the Master Fund's performance has been constrained by market conditions that have offered few opportunities for its macro-directional trading focus: major economies experienced synchronised slow growth; extreme easing in monetary policy resulted in low interest rates and flat yield curves; and there was limited trend movement in exchange rates."
"The Master Fund has been alert to the importance of seeking to preserve investors' capital", Evans added. "The past performance of the Master Fund and the Company demonstrates low levels of correlation with equity markets, but more significant correlation with market volatility. This was demonstrated by the over 5% increase in NAV following the unexpected result of the US Presidential Election in November 2016 and again by the 2.5% increase in NAV (US Dollar share class) in January 2018."
"Many observers believe that the strength in equity markets cannot continue indefinitely," Evans continued. "There are significant local and international political risks and the increased volatility seen in late January 2018 has given a warning of what the current year may hold. As and when the market environment changes, the company offers Shareholders the opportunity to benefit from the Master Fund’s long-term track record of preserving capital and achieving positive returns, uncorrelated with equities and other markets."
Shares in BH Macro were 0.3% lower at
BH Macro GBP (BHMG)