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Believed to be the only true hedge fund boutique operating from Poland, Macromoney has made annualised returns north of 22% since launching its equity-biased macro strategy in 2013. Now the firm is targeting a wider audience with a London presence
In recent years, returns from global macro hedge funds have been mixed, to say the least. While some macro managers have made significant hay from volatile markets and a continually surprising geopolitical landscape, others have suffered big losses and are struggling to rebound.
One of the best performers in recent months and years has been Macromoney, a little-known Polish boutique that has banked impressive returns with an equity-biased investment approach that combines a proprietary, quantitative macroeconomic modelling process with discretionary bottom-up stock picking.
The firm's strategy, Macromoney Global Investments, launched at the start of 2013 and made 34.68% in its first year. It went on to post a 25% gain in 2014 and also made double-digit returns in the following two years. The fund has started 2017 well, too - up 4.38% to the end of February, compared with a loss of 0.23% for the Hedge Fund Intelligence Macro USD Index.
Based in Warsaw, the firm has just signed up with a London-based platform, Sapia Partners - giving it a presence in the UK from which to engage with and attract investors more easily.
Macromoney was founded just over four years ago by Maciej Wisniewski, who is also sole portfolio manager for the Macromoney Global Investments strategy. He began his career in the 1990s working as a broker on the Warsaw Stock Exchange for Raiffeisen Capital and, later, Bank Millennium Securities.
Wisniewski went on to become a successful prop trader for LG Bank, after which he was director of trading at BZ WBK AIB Asset Management - a Polish investment firm that has since been acquired by Banco Santander.
"In 2005, when Poland joined the EU, the regulations concerning starting a private fund company were relaxed," recalls Wisniewski. Along with several colleagues, he established one of Poland's first privately-owned investment fund managers, simply titled the Investors Investment Fund Company (or Investors TFI). The firm launched with $3.5 million in seed capital; within six years, Investors TFI was managing $700 million.
Wisniewski sold his stake in...