Ex-BlueBay duo Phillips and Fayman to launch hedge fund -source

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By Nishant Kumar

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Former BlueBay fund managers Neil Phillips and Jonathan Fayman are preparing to launch a global hedge fund early next year, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as interest in macroeconomic investment stages a strong comeback.

The are setting up Glen Point Capital in London, the source and records with Britain's Companies House showed, following the same macro strategy they had at BlueBay with a focus on emerging markets.

After years of lacklustre returns, hedge funds that bet on macroeconomic trends are showing signs of revival as divergent economic policies across the globe create investment opportunities.

Macro funds, which bet on assets such as stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and market indexes, achieved a 2.5 percent in the first eight months of this year, data from industry tracker Eurekahedge shows. Net inflows were $4.3 billion in the first half of the year, against outflows of $14 billion for the whole of 2014.

There is a strong pipeline of macro hedge fund launches expected over the coming months and Glen Point will be joining the likes of start-ups from top fund managers such as former Brevan Howard trader Chris Rokos and Soros Fund Management's Chief Investment Officer Scott Bessent.

BlueBay's $1.4 billion macro hedge fund was jointly managed by Phillips and Fayman and was shut down by the firm after the duo's departure late last year.

Their BlueBay fund never suffered a down year and increased investors' capital at an annualised rate of about 8 percent since its launch in 2009, performance data seen by Reuters showed.

Phillips and Fayman will be joined at Glen Point by former COMAC Capital CEO Hopewell Wood, the source said.

A spokesman for Glen Point declined to comment.

(Editing by David Goodman)