Dublin-based hedge fund Abbey records big jump in profits

Abbey Capital

, a Dublin-based hedge fund investment management firm that has over $300 million (€265 million) in assets under management, saw profits more than double in the 12 months to the end of June.

Newly filed accounts show the company, established by former AIB executive Tony Gannon in 2000, recorded pretax profits of €52.4 million for the year, up 175 per cent on the €19 million reported a year earlier.

Management and incentive fees totalled €65.4 million, a rise of 270 per cent versus the €17.7 million recorded in the preceding year.

Abbey Capital is one of the largest independent allocators to the managed futures industry and currently distributes in excess of $5.5 billion. Its investor base includes include pension funds, private banks, multifamily offices, foundations and charities across Europe, North America and Asia.

Parent company

The company reported an operating profit of €52.3 million, compared to €5.1 million in the 12 months to June 2014. It paid a total dividend of €29.4 million to its parent company, Cavendish Capital, during the financial year.

The directors also recommended the payment of an interim dividend of €9.5 million, up from €430,160 a year earlier. The company, which received authorisation from the Central Bank to act as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager in July 2014 launched the Abbey Capital Futures Strategy Fund that same month. Abbey said the fund had surpassed $300 million assets under management at the end of December and has returned over 23 per cent since inception.

Foreign investors

The directors said the US remains the group’s largest market but “significant assets have also been raised from investors in other geographical regions”.

“The period from July 2014 to June 2015 represented a vastly improved environment for managed futures in general, with trends developing across both financial and commodity markets. The funds managed by the company realised robust gains over the year, capitalising on particularly strong trends in energy, currency and bond sectors throughout the second half of 2014,” the directors said.

Prior to establishing Abbey, Mr Gannon co-founded Allied Irish Capital Management in conjunction with AIB. The company's other major shareholder is British-based businessman Tim Brosnan, the founder of Gandon Securities. This was one of the first European managed futures investment operations and also the first company to receive an IFSC trading licence. Mr Brosnan sold Gandon to Woodchester in 1995.