Lunate buys into Brevan Howard under new partnership: Abu Dhabi-based alternative investment giant Lunate nabbed an undisclosed minority stake in global hedge fund manager Brevan Howard for an undisclosed sum, they said in a joint statement. The acquisition is part of a long-term strategic partnership that will also see them set up an investment platform in ADGM, pending regulatory approval.

Lunate is committing USD 2 bn up front to seed the new ADGM-based investment platform, which will offer a suite of exclusive funds built around Brevan Howard’s macro trading and digital asset strategies, the statement read. Additional capital is expected to be raised from local and international investors, with the venture positioned to deepen Abu Dhabi’s role as a hub for global hedge fund activity.

What’s in it for Lunate: The partnership marks a strategic push into hedge funds for Lunate, which manages USD 110 bn in AUM, expanding its alternatives offering for clients across the GCC and beyond, the firm's managing partner Khalifa Al Suwaidi said in the press release. Lunate is a subsidiary of Chimera Investment, with ADQ as an anchor client.

Background: Brevan Howard set up its regional headquarters in AbuDhabi back in 2023, which is now its largest office globally by assets managed. The firm runs USD 10 bn of its assets from Abu Dhabi, accounting for a third of its total activity.

A rare move in hedge fund land: The move is one of very few where a hedge fund has sold an equity stakes in itself, and also represents the first time a global hedge fund has secured a major new capital commitment out of Abu Dhabi, a sign of the emirate’s expanding role in the financial world. Besides luring tens of hedge funds, including Marshall Wace, Rokos Capital Management, and Hudson Bay Capital Management, to its financial center, its sovereign wealth funds are also big backers of major hedge funds.The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was among backers of Bobby Jain’s multistrategy hedge fund.

All part of a future-proofing play: The move also comes as Alan Howard — the co-owner of Brevan Howard and b'naire trader — looks to prepare the firm for a future without him, Financial Times reports. Howard stepped back as CEO in 2019, handing leadership to Aron Landy, who has since pushed to transform Brevan Howard into a platform more akin to Citadel or Millennium, with big teams of traders rather than individual risk-takers, the salmon-colored paper wrote.

In case you don’t know… Brevan Howard is one of the world’s largest hedge fund managers with USD 34 bn AUM. The London-headquartered firm has offices in the UK and a significant presence in Jersey, Geneva, New York, Austin, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Singapore, according to its website. Performance-wise, Brevan’s funds have been netting mixed returns in the past few years, with its Alpha Strategies fund gaining 6% through mid-August, while its Master fund slipped 1%, the FT wrote, citing a source it says is familiar with the matter.

The story also got ink from Bloomberg, Reuters and the Financial Times.

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