Economics
Hedge Fund Plows Half Its Money Into Venezuela Bond and Wins Big
- Knossos reaped 12% return when Venezuela paid bonds Feb. 26
- Venezuela has the highest default probability in the world
People drive motorcycles along the street in the Petare neighborhood on the outskirts of Caracas.
Photographer: Meridith Kohut/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
When Carmelo Haddad and Francisco Ghersi invested half their hedge fund’s money into a soon-to-mature Venezuela bond in mid-January, only two outcomes were possible: the trade could go horribly wrong or it could pay off fabulously.
After all, the odds that Venezuela would make the Feb. 26 payment were far from good. Racked by political turmoil, the economy was on the brink of collapse as slumping oil prices deprived the government of much-needed income. At the time, traders put the chance Venezuela would default in the next 12 months at 80 percent -- by far the highest probability in the world.