Platinum Capital Management, with USD300 million under management in six debt and equity funds, is looking to hire a fund manager for a new systematic commodities fund which will use derivatives. The new fund would ideally be up and running by the end of the year, said Craig Reeves, managing director at Platinum Capital in London. Platinum is currently also considering widening its fund range to cover currencies, said Reeves, who has a background in foreign exchange from his days at Bank of America and Titan Capital Management. It's currently concentrating on the CTA [commodity trading advisors] but, Reeves said, "If I found a brilliant fund manager tomorrow and the due diligence was done we would launch the fund."
Platinum has noticed growing market interest in CTAs over the last year, explained Reeves. "It is just a question of finding a manager with a proven strategy and some kind of pedigree," he added. "It is a bit of a bold step for us, because most CTAs are 'black box'," noted Reeves, explaining that most CTAs are based on statistical models and do not disclose details of how they work. This means investors see them as being less transparent.
