Alan Howard, a British billionaire investor and head of Brevan Howard hedge fund, is launching a cryptocurrency portfolio platform that will allow individuals to make stable investments – despite the volatility of digital assets.
The new platform is being developed mainly for institutional investors and will make investments in various crypto asset hedge funds. According to the Financial Times, the hedge fund will consist of several other funds, and is expected to manage around $1 billion in total client assets.
This crypto venture fund announcement has come during a bull run that’s mostly dominated by Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s leading digital currency. Recent data from Hedge Fund Research reveals that digital asset-focused investment portfolios are up around 60% over Q1 and Q2 2019.
Keeping Digital Assets Safe Can Be A Challenge
Elwood Asset Management, the company responsible for managing Howard’s personal cryptocurrency investments, will be handling the development, launch, and investment strategy of the new digital currency fund. The goal is to find companies that meet Elwood’s due diligence criteria, in order to ensure that clients’ assets remain safe.
Commenting on the potential risks of managing cryptos, Bin Ren, CEO, blockchain funds specialist at Elwood, said:
“Losing traditional assets in the real world is hard. In the digital world, it’s very easy to lose assets — put in the wrong address for a bitcoin transfer and it’s gone forever.”
Howard’s venture fund will aim to identify the appropriate investment companies who are interested in allocating capital while offering their own clients’ portfolio options that meet certain risk profiles, and liquidity and diversity requirements.
Details regarding the investments will be announced in the foreseeable future. Elwood’s management intends to create bespoke portfolios for each client. The investment firm will be charging an undisclosed management fee for its services, and a separate fee for accessing the underlying crypto funds.
Institutions Need More Options for Investing in Crypto Assets
Elwood and investment management firm Invesco had previously introduced an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in firms building various blockchain-based platforms.
During an interview with Bloomberg in March 2019, Ren remarked:
“The only way for institutions to get meaningful exposure to digital assets has been to buy Bitcoin, but many are reluctant or unable to buy Bitcoin — and for good reason.”
Howard has been investing in crypto assets since 2017. He also made a strategic investment in Block.one, a Cayman Islands-registered software publishing firm behind the development of EOS, one of the largest platforms for building decentralized applications (dApps).
Howard does not manage Elwood’s daily business operations.