BH Global raises $1 billion

By Laurence Fletcher

LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge feeder fund BH Global said on Friday it has raised $1 billion (500 million pounds) from a placing with investors, double its initial target of $500 million, which will make it one of the UK's biggest listed funds.

The fundraising highlights the demand that exists for certain hedge strategies, despite the poor returns from many funds in the industry this year, and trumps that by fund of hedge funds Dexion Absolute (DAB.L), which in December raised an above-target $950 million.

"We are pleasantly surprised by the extent of the response," BH Global chairman Lord Turnbull told Reuters.

"When there is a lot of risk in the market, people want to invest with people with a track record in the management of risk ... Conditions, I think, will remain difficult."

Last year hedge fund firm Brevan Howard launched BH Macro, a feeder fund into the Brevan Howard Master fund, which raised 770 million euros in an initial public offering, below its original target of 1 billion euros, although in October it raised a further $131 million.

BH Global is a feeder fund into Brevan Howard's Global Opportunities Master fund, which will invest up to 40 percent of assets in the Brevan Howard Master fund, and 10-20 percent each in the Equity Strategies Master fund, the Asia Master fund, the Emerging Markets Strategies Master fund and the Strategic Opportunities fund.

BH Global said it had placed 70.8 million shares with investors and that dealing in its shares was likely to commence on May 29.

Brevan Howard was founded in 2002 and manages around $23.8 billion in assets.