Brevan Howard founder to return to London from Geneva - source

LONDON (Reuters) - Alan Howard, the co-founder of British hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management, is to move back to London from Geneva for personal reasons, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. Howard moved to Switzerland in 2010, at a time when many other hedge fund staff were also repatriating to the country, attracted by lower taxes and lighter regulation compared to tough new EU rules brought in after the 2008 financial crisis. The firm said at the time that the option to open a new Geneva office was for staff who wanted to switch location "for personal reasons". The Wall Street Journal reported the news of Howard's move to London earlier on Monday. Brevan Howard has around $11.9 billion in assets under management. It has seen an asset decline of nearly $25 billion since 2012, from a combination of market losses and client withdrawals. Its flagship macro fund has made losses of 3.9 percent in the first seven months of 2017, the source added. AH Fund, a fund solely managed by Howard, launched in March. [nL5N1H64CA] (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and David Evans)