BH Macro (BHMG/BHMU) has published its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2024, reporting a NAV total return of 5.86% for the sterling share class and 4.92% for the US dollar share class. Share price returns were stronger, at 10.63% and 10.61% respectively, as the board executed a share buyback programme that helped narrow the discount over the year.
The company invests solely in the Brevan Howard Master Fund, a multi-strategy vehicle targeting low-volatility, uncorrelated returns through active macro trading. The strategy is designed to thrive in volatile and uncertain environments, and the 2024 backdrop of diverging global monetary policy, geopolitical flux, and heightened macro risks proved favourable for the fund’s approach.
The board continues to view long-term discounts of over 5% as unacceptable and authorised buybacks totalling £116m of shares during the year in response to persistent selling pressure, reducing the average discount from 11.1% in December 2023 to 7.8% by December 2024. These buybacks were accretive to NAV, adding 0.98% to the sterling share class return.
Shareholders in both share classes voted overwhelmingly against closure in February 2025 EGMs, following the triggering of class closure mechanisms due to persistent discounts. 98.2% of sterling class shareholders and 99.9% of US dollar class shareholders supported continuation.
Commenting on the year, Chair Richard Horlick noted that global macro conditions provided fertile ground for the Master Fund’s strategies, especially in periods of market dislocation such as November 2024. The return of Donald Trump to the White House, and his swift implementation of a revised US economic and foreign policy agenda, alongside political instability in the UK following Labour’s landslide election victory, has reintroduced heightened volatility and divergence across global markets.
Despite these challenges, Horlick reaffirmed the board’s full confidence in Brevan Howard Capital Management, whose business continues to grow, with US$35bn in AUM and further investment into its trading and support teams.
The board remains fully committed to supporting the manager’s strategy and to enhancing shareholder value through proactive discount management and strong corporate governance. With a global macro environment increasingly shaped by politics, policy divergence and shifting inflation expectations, it believes that BH Macro is well-positioned to continue delivering uncorrelated returns.
