Paulson heals from European trades to post a return to form
TRADER John Paulson – whose 2007 bet against the US sub-prime mortgage market was dubbed the greatest trade ever – saw a reversal in fortunes at the European wing of his hedge fund last year, annual accounts shows.
Paulson Europe, a Jermyn Street-based subsidiary of Wall Street firm Paulson & Co, increased turnover by 14 per cent from £13.3m to £15.2m for the year ending March 2013, reversing a 32 per cent decline in 2012.
This helped deliver a £6.5m profit for sharing between the three named members of the partnership: the US parent company Paulson Ltd and partners John Reade and Harry St John Cooper.
The accounts, filed at Companies House, show two Paulson partners left the company last year, with both Nikolai Petchenikov and Mina Herrmann exiting the business in December and May 2012 respectively.
The highest paid member of the partnership for 2013 was paid nearly £2m but the identity of the partner was not disclosed in the accounts. Paulson declined to comment.
While still lower than the £26.5m profit in 2011-12, Paulson’s European comeback comes amid a better performance across its suite of funds.