Bruce Currie set up HC Japan Fund in Bermuda seven years ago. But now he is moving back to the UK to manage Oxford University’s $800 million endowment. The Royal Gazette spoke to him about the new challenge ahead, his time on the Island and other overseas adventures.

To manage an endowment worth more than $800 million may seem daunting to most, but Bruce Currie, an Englishman who came to Bermuda seven years ago to set up the hedge fund ‘HC Japan Fund’, is relishing the challenge of his new job as Investment Director for the newly-founded Oxford University Endowment Management Ltd. (OUEM) in the UK.

The Endowment is made up of various donations and assets, some of which are more than 800 years old. Last year alone the Endowment generated an income of $ 56 million for the University.

Real estate makes up part of the value of the Endowment. But modern day contributions are more likely to come in the form of monetary donations from wealthy individuals, such as Bermuda resident and owner of Agar’s island Dr James Martin.

Another generous donor is billionaire Wafic Rida Said, whose company Said Holdings (SHL) is incorporated in Bermuda. Mr. Said donated $32 million to establish the Said Business school at the University as well as other donations worth tens of millions of dollars.

The University of Oxford, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, boasts an array of famous alumni, including 25 former British Prime Ministers, and realised that access to substantial funds is becoming increasingly important for it in order to stay at the forefront of research and teaching.

This is what led to the formation of OUEM in 2007, enabling the University’s assets to be managed by a dedicated group aiming to emulate the successful fund raising and endowment management of American universities, such as Harvard and Yale.

Mr Currie explained: “The OUEM team is small and very well - regarded. Working for the University of Oxford will provide great opportunities.

“It is a clearer and purer form of investing than what can be done in the insurance sector, which is driven by regulation and other factors which are not related to the investment environment. The endowment model is unconstrained and long - term.”

Reflecting upon the current recession, he said the present global financial outlook has created a situation where one has to balance using existing opportunities for long-term investing, while preserving as much capital as possible.

He said: “There may be more unpleasant things to come but there are also many opportunities. Timing is always important but becomes less so when investing with a long time horizon as is the case with the OUEM.”

Mr. Currie explained that some opportunities may be found in trading global assets, parts of the corporate bond markets and convertible securities.

He said: “The assets held by the University are very stable and therefore carry low risk. Working for the University of Oxford will give high access to people and funds.

“The University is very committed to putting time and resources into the endowment management and has very serious long - term ambitions.

“Some of the Colleges have responded very positively to the OUEM and have transferred part of the $3.64 billion of their assets to be managed by us.

“Some of the assets will be held in perpetuity. Its a very conservative portfolio with few constraints which will be used for large capital projects.

“In spite of the challenges of the global financial markets the returns of last year were positive,” he continued.

Mr. Currie who studied Politics and Economics at the University of Nottingham explained that he has always found politics more useful than economics when managing investments.

He said: “Understanding politics has helped me predict what is going to happen in the markets.”

It was his interest Soviet politics in particular that made him spend six weeks in the USSR in 1986 as a student.

He spent time in Moscow and Leningrad, today know as St. Petersburg, attending the International school where many of the other students came from communist block countries to learn English.

He described the visit as an amazing experience, allowing him to live with the family of a high ranking, privileged, Soviet party official whose son had recently returned from the war in Afghanistan with some very bad experiences.

It was during the time of Perestroika when Mikhail Gorbachev was in power. Mr. Curry explained: “The planned economy was still functioning but was not thriving and there was little choice for the individual.”

During his many years as an investment banker, Mr. Currie got to travel extensively in Asia, especially Japan, which he enjoyed tremendously. But with a second child on its way, Mr. Currie and his wife wanted a different lifestyle from what they had in London.

With the opportunity to create a hedge fund in Bermuda Mr. Currie and his family came to the Island.

He said: “Starting up a new business, the arrival of a second baby and setting up a new home in a foreign country as well as being hit by Hurricane Fabian, all within the first year in Bermuda turned out to be a bit of a challenge.”

“We had to re-adjust our expectations, but living in Bermuda has been a very positive experience which has taught us so much; a healthier attitude to consumption, awareness of water conservation, the use of the second-hand market. We hope to bring this back with us when we go back to the UK.”

Preparing for the move back to the UK has been interesting for the family, not least the dog Bruno.

He said “Getting our dog Bruno to the UK has proved to be the biggest challenge. He will have to fly on his own via Toronto.”

“I have had two months off work before the move and have really enjoyed the opportunity to spend extra time with my family.

“Last week my daughter Ellen hosted an early eighth birthday party. She asked for a chance to celebrate with her friends in Bermuda before we leave.

But despite moving thousands of miles across to the other side of the ocean his new abode could be like a home-from-home.