Forbes – Everyone knows August was a volatile month after the downgrade of U.S. credit from AAA to AA on Aug. 5. But that kind of volatility is where big money can be made and while many hedge funds suffered, David Baran’s small hedge fund Symphony Financial in Tokyo was ranked No. 1 by BarclayHedge, at least in the emerging market space. It rose by more than 14.8% while most hedge funds scrambled to preserve capital and global equities were selling off.
The trick in Baran’s case was gambling on Chinese casino stocks, warrants and running a fund with the combined managerial experience of 20 years investing in emerging market Asia derivatives. It’s an ugly word, given the 2008 derivatives crash associated with the housing bubble, but to hedge funds, it’s as good as gold.
