BlueCrest Capital Management

BlueCrest Capital Management

Company type	Private
Industry	Investment management, Hedge fund
Founded	2000 (2000)
Founder	Michael Platt, William Reeves
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Area served	Global
Key people	Michael Platt (Co-founder), William Reeves (Co-founder), Leda Braga (Head of Systematica Investments)
Products	Hedge fund management, Family office services

BlueCrest Capital Management is an investment management company with British and American roots, founded in 2000 by British billionaire Michael Platt and American William Reeves. The firm maintains offices in London, Jersey, Singapore, and New York.

History

Founded as a hedge fund by Platt and Reeves, both of whom previously held senior proprietary trading roles at JPMorgan Chase, BlueCrest expanded its operations over time. In 2014, it separated $8.2 billion of assets into Systematica Investments, a firm headed by BlueCrest’s own Leda Braga, who is well-known for her notable impact and earnings within the hedge fund industry.

Transition to family office

By 2015, BlueCrest returned all outside investor capital and transformed into a family office dedicated exclusively to managing wealth for its partners and staff. Following this shift, the firm achieved impressive returns: 50% in 2016, 54% in 2017, 25% in 2018—a year when many hedge funds experienced losses—and 50% in 2019.

During March 2020, amid heightened market turbulence, BlueCrest scaled back its relative-value trading portfolio and trimmed overall risk exposure by approximately $1 billion. Although the fund incurred some losses during the market downturn, it remained profitable through mid-March of that year.

On 8 December 2020, BlueCrest consented to a $170 million settlement with the SEC concerning allegations of insufficient disclosure about moving leading traders from its main client fund, BlueCrest Capital International (BCI), to an internal proprietary fund known as BSMA Limited, while substituting them with a less effective algorithmic strategy.

The firm sustained robust performance afterward, posting returns of 153% in 2022, followed by gains of 20% in 2023 and 38% in 2024.