Brunei tweaks Bridgewater bet to a lucrative 20% stake in firm

[NEW YORK] Brunei’s sovereign wealth fund pulled money from an investment in a Bridgewater Associates strategy to buy an almost 20% stake in the hedge fund manager’s holding company, a move that has helped spur higher gains for other institutional investors.

The Brunei Investment Agency is the latest longstanding client to buy a piece of the firm founded by Ray Dalio, which managed US$92 billion as at Dec 31.

It’s unclear which Bridgewater vehicle Brunei pulled money from, although the sovereign wealth fund remains an investor in all of the firm’s funds, according to a source familiar with the money manager.

Bridgewater’s flagship Pure Alpha II, like many macro funds, has improved its performance in the past few years, but over a longer period, returns have been uneven. That means a long-term investment in the firm itself can be more lucrative than betting on its most popular product.

Bridgewater has been selling stakes to institutions for more than a decade. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and the International Monetary Fund have all purchased a piece of the Westport, Connecticut-based firm.

The Texas teachers pension fund invested US$250 million in Bridgewater’s holding company in 2012 and reported making an annualised return of 8.7 per cent to Mar 31.

An investor in Pure Alpha would have gained an annualised 2 per cent from the beginning of 2012 to June 2025. Last year, the fund climbed 11.3 per cent and it’s up 17 per cent in the first half of this year.

Dalio recently completed his exit from the company, selling the final slug of his remaining shares in the money manager he started 50 years ago, and resigning from the board. BLOOMBERG