Stephen Pratt spent 10 years with banks in the U.K. building systems and trading infrastructure. After returning to South Africa he ran his own market neutral hedge fund (Radcliffe Capital) returning 20% annualised for 10 years.
In 2012 he started a joint venture with the listed private equity group Blackstar to form Blackstar Fund Managers. Pratt is the manager of the multi strategy hedge fund Blackstar Special Opportunities Fund, benefitting from Blackstar’s institutional set up. The fund has a return target of 15-25% per annum over a rolling 3-5 year period. As of November 2013, the fund is up 25% net since launch 13 months ago (Oct. 2012) with no down month and low volatility of 8%.
The Blackstar Special Opportunities Fund is available in both offshore (USD) and South African (ZAR) onshore versions and comprises 3 sub strategies:
1. Top40 and Large Caps on the JSE: Concentrated portfolio large cap holdings
2. Special Opportunities: Combination of fundamental deep value investments, catalyst driven opportunities, relative value pairs or baskets, sector or momentum themes, structured derivatives and Africa exposure
3. Offshore (up to 25% of NAV): Concentrated portfolio of large cap holdings Top40 and large cap equities, special opportunities and offshore / international equities.
Blackstar Fund Managers and Blackstar Group are based in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Blackstar Group SE is a private equity company invested in listed and unlisted companies, property and a fund management businesses and listed on both the London Stock Exchange (BLCK) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (BCK). Andrew Bonamour founded Blackstar in 2005 and continues to run the business. The company has a successful private equity track record and has built its reputation through innovative transactions in both listed and unlisted investments.
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Stephen Pratt spent 10 years with banks in the U.K. building systems and trading infrastructure. After returning to South Africa he ran his own market neutral hedge fund (Radcliffe Capital) returning 20% annualised for 10 years.
In 2012 he started a joint venture with the listed private equity group Blackstar to form Blackstar Fund Managers. Pratt is the manager of the multi strategy hedge fund Blackstar Special Opportunities Fund, benefitting from Blackstar’s institutional set up. The fund has a return target of 15-25% per annum ov
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