According to a Bloomberg report, British hedge fund Pharo Management has repaid $ 300 million to investors in Saudi Arabia. The reason for the remarkable transaction: The asset manager no longer wanted to manage funds for a state that had apparently ordered the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. According to the report, it was money managed by the hedge fund for the Saudi Arabian Central Bank.
Almost half a year has passed since Khashoggi was murdered on a visit to the Istanbul Consulate of his homeland. Turkish investigators are confident that the leadership in Riyadh has ordered the crime. Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman changed his narrative in the case several times, only to one assertion, he stubbornly holds to this day: He himself has nothing to do with the murder.
In fact, for a while, it looked as if the Khashoggi case had disappeared from public consciousness, as if the world community had come to terms with the regime's excuses.
Pharo founder Guillaume Fonkenell justified his company's decision to investors by "upholding principles". A spokeswoman for the asset manager did not want to comment on the "Bloomberg" report.
Pharo is the first hedge fund to refuse to continue to manage money for Saudi Arabian investors. The decision comes at a time when the industry is struggling to collect funds from investors. Recently, many investors were disappointed by high fees and mediocre earnings of the providers. According to eVestment, customers withdrew $ 37 billion from hedge funds last year.
Other big asset managers take a different approach: Larry Fink, head of the largest asset manager Blackrock, said in November that he was not ashamed to do business in Saudi Arabia and intends to continue investing there.