Exclusive-Fund manager Bessent scores double on Trump victory
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent speaks at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo
As a money manager, Scott Bessent's years of inconsistent performance have contributed to a nearly 90% decline in his hedge fund's assets, , News.az reports citing Investing.
Now, with other business lines expanding, he has scored on perhaps his biggest bet yet: President-elect Donald Trump.
Bessent spotted what he called an anomaly in the market: that political and market analysts were too negative on what a Trump victory would mean, according to a letter to clients in January seen by Reuters. His Key Square Capital Management put on bets that U.S. stocks and the dollar would gain, helping earn a double-digit percentage profit so far in 2024, with November as its best month, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Bessent's even bigger wager and apparently win is on Trump, the future president. He's been a donor, economic adviser and booster on TV to Trump. On Friday night, news broke that Bessent was Trump's pick to be Treasury Secretary.
"Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A representative for Bessent did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the nomination.
Trump has talked Bessent up as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street." While parts of Bessent's business have expanded, such as advising other family offices and money managers, details of his fund's performance, reported here for the first time, show a mixed track record in the decade since he launched his own hedge fund firm.
Now, with other business lines expanding, he has scored on perhaps his biggest bet yet: President-elect Donald Trump.
Bessent spotted what he called an anomaly in the market: that political and market analysts were too negative on what a Trump victory would mean, according to a letter to clients in January seen by Reuters. His Key Square Capital Management put on bets that U.S. stocks and the dollar would gain, helping earn a double-digit percentage profit so far in 2024, with November as its best month, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Bessent's even bigger wager and apparently win is on Trump, the future president. He's been a donor, economic adviser and booster on TV to Trump. On Friday night, news broke that Bessent was Trump's pick to be Treasury Secretary.
"Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A representative for Bessent did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the nomination.
Trump has talked Bessent up as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street." While parts of Bessent's business have expanded, such as advising other family offices and money managers, details of his fund's performance, reported here for the first time, show a mixed track record in the decade since he launched his own hedge fund firm.
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