20 Things You Didn’t Know About Alan Howard
Alan Howard is a British hedge fund manager who has made a fortune in the financial sector. He’s a billionaire who is ranked high on the list of successful business people considered to be in the self-made category. This means that he didn’t have a lot of help along the way. He’s an interesting figure in the world of stocks and trading and there is a lot that we can learn from him about what it takes to achieve success in business. Here are 20 things that you didn’t know about Alan Howard. Some of them might inspire you in your own business pursuits.
1. He was born to a Jewish family
Howard was born in September of 1963, to a Jewish family in England. He attended school at the Hasmonean Grammar School, in the Hendon neighborhood of London in the UK. He started out his life as many of us do, finishing high school, then going on to college after graduation. He enrolled in courses at Imperial College in London and earned his master’s degree prior to launching his career in the financial sector.
2. Howard gained experience in the financial market
After completing college, Howard was hired at Salomon Brothers where he worked in the ECU Eurobond market. This job helped him to gain a great deal of experience in the market. This is where he started his career in finance, prior to becoming wealthy. He applied himself to becoming good at his job and with a deep understanding of how hedge funds are best managed, he gained expertise in the management aspect of client assets.
3. Alan Howard co-founded his own asset management company
After gaining sufficient experience in the field of asset management, Alan Howard struck out on his own. He and for partners co-founded their own business called Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP. The company was established in Jersey as a European hedge fund management company with the funds for the business domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The company officially opened for business in 2002. It would grow to become one of the world’s largest macro hedge fund, managing around $40 billion, reaching its ape in 2013. The firm has since downsized the operation and by 2016 it managed assets in the amount of $18 billion.
4. He owns estates all over the world
Alan Howard can buy homes in almost any place he’d like to live. He moved from his home in London, England to Geneva, Switzerland in 2010. He spent five years living in the country, then made the decision to move to the United States. He maintained his British citizenship, but he’s lived in several different parts of the world. Mr. Howard purchased a condo in Miami, Florida for the cost of $14.5 million in 2015. He returned back home to London in 2017.
5. He hasn’t strayed from his family roots
Alan Howard remains active in the Conservative Party crowd and supports this political platform. Although he’s not a politician, he does possess a great deal of influence. He hasn’t strayed from his family roots and heritage. He established an organization called the Alan Howard Foundation/JW3 Speaker Series in 2014. This consists of talks, conversations as well as entertainment by experts and leaders in their fields with the purpose of holding events to raise money for a very good cause. The proceeds of each event are earmarked for a Jewish center that is located in London, England.
6. He’s a philanthropist
The Alan Howard Charitable Foundation is an organization that Howard founded for the purpose of philanthropy. The foundation makes contributions to charities that support the country of Israel as well as a variety of Jewish related causes. Some of the charities that are supported by the foundation include Israeli film, homeless charities, and education focused upon the Holocaust.
7. He’s the “undisputed master of risk”
Alan Howard has had his share of rough times. When the financial crisis hit, there was a mass exodus of investors, and the value of Brevan Howard Asset Management fell from managing $40 billion to an all-time low of just $6.3 billion. This was a hard time for him and his partners and it called for drastic actions. He gathered with tycoons in New York City to develop complex strategies for earning the fortune back and setting their operations on more solid financial footing. Nearly everyone throughout the world had taken a similar beating financially, and this is why the group convened. Howard rallied support and set out on new ventures which were highly risky. He did so at a time when his reputation in the business had been dragged through the weeds, so to speak, but he undertook a few daring ventures that paid off, re-establishing himself as the “undisputed master of risk.”
8. Even in bad times, he continues to fight
Alan Howard is not afraid to traverse through treacherous market conditions. He’s an analyst at heart and he knows the business inside out. If something isn’t working then it’s time to take a different approach. One of his colleagues in the finance industry gave an insightful opinion on Howard. He characterizes the billionaire as a “fighter” and goes further to offer that “Alan is one of the guys who doesn’t give up.” When the majority of financial gurus are walking away from the table and conceding defeat, he’s still in there swinging. He’s been doing this very thing for decades, managing and navigating through one financial crisis, and then another, and another. It’s an ongoing process.
9. He watched an empire crumble
If you can imagine the impact that watching an empire worth billions crumble to the floor, this is what Alan Howard has had to contend with. When a series of uninspiring returns continued for a wretchedly long streak, investors withdrew billions. Howard observed this phenomenon as investors were running scared and taking the money and running. The main fund has been posting negative returns for three out of the last four years with a decline of 5% in 2017. He’s built a multi-billion dollar empire to watch it began a decline losing 3/4 of its value, but he hasn’t given up, and he’s still incredibly wealthy.
10. Alan Howard is listed on Forbes
Howard is categorized by Forbes magazine as number 1425 on their list of Billionaires in teh world for 2019. This means that there are 1,424 billionaires throughout the world who are richer than him. He is number 13 when it comes to Forbes’ list of the Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers 2019. Even though Alan Howard’s endeavors are not performing at a peak of $40 billion in asset management achieved during their heyday, they’re still a multi-billion dollar operation. Howard is classified as a self-made billionaire and he has the potential for taking his current value to the limit.
11. He’s the owner of Elwood Asset Management
Elwood Asset Management is yet another firm owned by Alan Howard. This firm is exploring options for investing in a crypto hedge fund space, as reported by The Financial Times on August 30, 2019. The company is currently looking into a platform for tailoring portfolios of cryptocurrency funds for investors. The venture is developing a platform of selected crypto funds which are vetter for passing due diligence to lessen the risks for investors in an emerging sector of the market. The firm is currently weeding out the less reliable sources and has identified 50 crypto hedge funds which are most likely to satisfy the due diligence tests. The company is looking at the management of more than $1 billion in crypto fund assets.
12. Howard is a host of crypto investments
We recently discovered that Alan Howard has become involved in and is the host of several crypto investments. Those under his management include Block One, in EOS developer, adn Bakkt, which is an ICE owned digital assets platform. Prior to Elwood Asset Management getting on board with cryptocurrencies, Howard has dabbled in the ventures on his own and has gained substantial experience in these markets.
13. He’s one of the top 200 art collectors
Here is yet another interesting fact we’ve learned about Alan Howard. He’s listed as one of the top 200 art collectors in the world today. This is just one of his passions, but it also ties in with his keen eye for business.
14. He owns a rare painting
Howard has discriminating tastes when it comes to the pieces in his art collection. One of them is a Monet water-lily painting. The piece is currently valued at $43 million.
15. he acquired the Monet which was formerly the property of Ferdinand Marcos’ widow
Alan Howard had to jump through some serious hoops to keep the Monet water-lily painting. He paid the victims of Ferdinand Marcos a tidy sum of $10 million to retain possession of the Monet. It had previously been a part of the late dictator’s widow’s art collection.
16. Howard is famous in art collector circles
Howard is well-known for his affinity for Impressionism and Modern art genres. He’s made an appearance on the lists of the top 200 art collectors for four straight years in a row. This trend began in 2013 and continued on through 2014, 2015 and in 2016. His name is associated with some of the most highly-collectible, rare and valuable pieces in the world.
17. He served as director for a parliamentary group
Although he is not currently a politician, Alan Howard has had experience in this arena. At one time in his life, he served as the director of the Conservative Friends of Israel. This was something that he was dedicated to doing in order to aid Jewish issues and show support. This committee was a parliamentary group in the British government and it was focused upon the strengthening of political, cultural and business ties between Israel and the United Kingdom.
18. Alan Howard is a powerful man
It is estimated that Alan Howard has a net worth of $1.6 billion. It is his incredible wealth that allows him to do so much in the world. His acquisition of the Monet painting is just one example. Another is his work in parliament on behalf of British-Jewish relations. He is highly respected by important people in the world and this gives him the utility to effect real and lasting change in his corner of the world and beyond.
19. He’s a father
Howard doesn’t flaunt his personal life as he prefers to keep some things about his life private. The fact of the matter is that he was married to Sabine Howard, who is a native of France. The couple’s marriage didn’t work out and it ended in divorce in 2015, but they did bring a family of four children into the world.
20. He’s not finished yet
Although things have gone to the extreme south in the hedge fund market, one thing that is a certainty is that he’s still fighting to get back on top. Howard has the innate ability to create new businesses in the financial sector, and it seems that he is predisposed to take the greatest risks in the ventures that he undertakes. After all, he was identified as the “undisputed master of risks” and in many instances, they have paid off, at least, for a period of time. He’s on to another risky venture in the cryptocurrency-based hedge fund business currently, investing a billion through his Elway Asset Management company. It seems that there is no end to the number of risky ventures that he is willing to undertake, but this is where he has built his stellar reputation and we wish him the greatest success, although luck isn’t something he’s relied upon, but rather, calculated risks and the knowledge that sometimes you win big and sometimes you have to try something new.
