Louis Bacon’s Moore Capital still sizzles despite Wizard exit

Louis Bacon’s $15 billion (£9.3 billion) hedge fund Moore Capital boosted profits in its Mayfair office last year despite the loss of star fund manager Greg Coffey.

Tory Party donor Bacon saw his European arm generate profits of £36.4 million in 2013, according to a filing at Companies House, with turnover from fees up from £95 million to £140.2 million.

Bacon, 58, founded Moore Capital in 1989 after a career on Wall Street and rose to prominence after making a number of successful financial bets linked to the first Gulf War.

Although today’s figures only cover up to the period ending December 31, they are significant because Moore has since bolstered its ranks in London by appointing Christian Levett, the founder of commodities hedge fund Clive Capital, which closed last year and his former chief investment officer Tristan Almada.

The figures are also noteworthy because they come after the retirement of Australian Coffey, nicknamed the Wizard of Oz, in October 2012.

Coffey quit Moore Capital at the age of 41 to spend more time with his family having previously made his name, and a reported $700 million fortune, at GLG, where he turned down a $250 million golden handcuffs deal to stay.

Having generated returns of about 22% a year since 2004, he joined Moore Capital in 2008 with Bacon describing him as “one of the most impressive traders in the world”.

His obsessive working patterns often meant he would have trading terminals flown to his hotels when he was on holiday. However, following the financial crisis his returns slowed and he is said to have fallen out with Bacon before he quit.

Last week it emerged Coffey had returned to the hedge fund industry by investing in Abbeville Partners, a start-up run by his former GLG protege James Saltissi. Moore Capital was unavailable for comment.