Ex-Trafigura Trader Almada to Start Rare Commodity Hedge Fund

(Bloomberg) — Trafigura Group derivatives trader Tristan Almada has left to set up an eponymous commodities-focused hedge fund, according to corporate filings and people familiar with the matter.

Almada Capital’s investment manager will be based in Geneva, according to a person familiar with the launch, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Almada had been trading commodity derivatives at Trafigura for four years and was previously a portfolio manager at Andurand Capital Management, Moore Capital Management and Clive Capital. 

James Josling, who headed up energy trading in Africa for Trafigura before leaving in 2021, is on the board of Almada as a managing director, Swiss corporate records show.

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Independent commodity hedge funds experienced their heyday in the mid-2000s to early-2010s as investors flocked to a “super-cycle” bull market, spurred by dramatic growth in China. Now, a stuttering transition away from fossil fuels is causing dislocations in markets from gas to copper, while rising global temperatures are restricting supply and boosting prices of cocoa and coffee.

Still, independent commodity start-ups remain a rarity as large multistrategy funds like Millennium Management, Balyasny Asset Management, Citadel and Squarepoint Capital have built out commodity desks of their own in recent years. Top derivatives talent has also accumulated at the biggest physical commodity traders like Trafigura Group, Vitol Group and Mercuria Energy Group.

A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment.

Almada faces a tough environment for raising capital as investors focus on large established firms that combine multiple trading strategies to produce steady returns. Commodities hedge funds suffered $6.6 billion in net outflows last year, according to data compiled by eVestment.

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