Hanbury Hedge Fund Drops 12.6% in a Week Amid Russian Invasion

(Bloomberg) -- James Hanbury's Brook Asset Management hedge fund dropped 12.6% over the past week as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked market turmoil.

The losses are one of the biggest since his LF Brook Absolute Return Fund started trading more than a decade ago and comes after a 10% rise last year, an investor document and data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The drop leaves the 523 million pound ($700 million) fund, which mainly bets on share price movements, down 2.3% this year.

A spokesperson for Brook Asset Management, which is an unit of Odey Asset Management, declined to comment.

While it isn't clear what caused the fall, about a tenth of the fund's assets were exposed to Russia at the end of November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Russian financial assets have largely become untradable for foreign investors amid the sanctions imposed by countries across the globe in response to President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The exposure to Russian assets has declined to less than 5% now, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Hanbury is among money managers nursing heavy losses following a turmoil in the financial markets over the last week. A number of mutual funds with exposures to Russian assets have suffered losses of more than 30% this year and suspended trading.

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