(Bloomberg) - Crispin Odey is betting that UBS Group AG’s shotgun marriage with Credit Suisse Group AG will pay off.
The UK hedge fund manager said he invested 2% of his Odey Asset Management funds into UBS shares after the takeover. Odey personally ran about $1.3 billion of assets at the end of February.
“I probably should have put 5% in,” Odey said by phone, adding he had concluded that there was a disparity between the lender’s market value and the increase in net asset value from the deal.
UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for about $3 billion over the weekend in a deal that transforms the landscape of Swiss banking.
The last-minute merger brokered by the Swiss government on Sunday has left investors racing to break down the implications for UBS, one of the world’s largest wealth managers. For now, the benefits in terms of potential cost-savings and dramatically improved market share are largely outweighing concerns about the complexity of integrating Credit Suisse and the risks on its balance sheet.
UBS shares fell as much as 16% on Monday, after the deal was announced, but have since recovered and continue to trade above the levels seen at the start of the week. Shares are headed for a negative close Wednesday.
Odey’s flagship European Inc. hedge fund surged 152% last year, powered mainly by his highly leveraged short wagers on long-dated UK government bonds as inflation and political turmoil roiled the British economy.
The returns marked a comeback for Odey, who has now fully recouped losses accumulated between 2015 and 2020 when his bearish wagers repeatedly failed to pay off. The fund is down 3.4% this year through March 14, according to an investor document, ahead of many macro peers.
By Philip Aldrick
With assistance from Nishant Kumar
