For the OG ZeroHedgers, Hugh Hendry's name will be well known and well respected.
For others, the infamous Scot made his bones being the ultimate contrarian to the world's order and making a killing through the great financial crisis for himself and his hedge fund partners.
Google is your friend to find the many times we posted on Hendry's musings in the late 2000s, early 2010s.
On the nature of panics and capital destruction (from Eclectica Fund commentary, August 2007):"Panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has been previously destroyed by its betrayal into unproductive works."
On speculation ending (August 2008 interview, amid the crisis escalation):"There is no role for speculation or speculators today. This is kaput. If we were Second World War generals, we've exposed our flanks and the enemy is advancing."
Hendry frequently emphasized contrarianism, asymmetry in bets (e.g., tail-risk protection with high upside in disasters), and skepticism of consensus. He drew inspiration from existentialist ideas, once sayingprinciples like "God is dead, life is absurd, and there are no rules" guided his investing- fitting for someone willing to bet aggressively against the crowd pre-crisis.
His was thebest performing macro hedge fund in 2010.
During Trump 1.0 he warned about the decline of Europe:"In Europe we anticipate further duress in the political commitment to the European project as the success of Trump’s economic stimulus plan keeps US growth humming along leaving the continent badly exposed as a politically fractured economy without the resolve to implement successful growth strategies."
This was him in 2020 before the inflation crisis:"Chaos is coming... The mood of the nation is what unleashes the inflationary genie...it is not a monetary phenomenon."
A few years after apparently retiring to St.Barts, the former Eclectica asset management co-founder is living his best life andsharing his thoughts via substack.
Source: ZeroHedge News
