Funds avoided losses despite 'Brexit' shock

London

IN late June, as Britons prepared to go to the polls to vote on the country's membership in the European Union (EU), about 800 hedge fund managers gathered at the opulent Cavalieri hotel on a hill overlooking Rome for an annual rite.

They were there to attend Goldman Sachs' European hedge fund conference; among the guests were Pershing Square Capital Management's William Ackman and Man GLG's managing director, Pierre Lagrange. As the illustrious group mingled with investors over cocktails, the hedge fund managers, who collectively command hundreds of billions of dollars on behalf of institutions and individuals, were for the most part upbeat. Few believed that Britain would vote to exit the EU.