Back from retirement, world's best trader is worried for macros

Nazim Khanmoneycontrol.comAfter shedding management duties at his USD 30 billion family fund, legendary trader and investor George Soros has again taken to actively directing trades -- trades that reflect a starkly pessimistic outlook.

A Wall Street Journal report overnight says Soros, arguably the world's greatest macro trader, has come out of retirement "lured by opportunities to profit from what he sees as coming economic troubles".

In an email interview with the newspaper, Soros outlined China as an economy whose slowdown threatens the global economy and expressed doubts about the future of the Eurozone (not due to Brexit, which he thinks is unlikely, but due to the migration crisis).

In line with his outlook, the billionaire has put on a number of trades that bear out his pessimism: he has bought into gold, gold miners and has taken derivative positions that would benefit from a fall in US stock prices.

Soros -- who earned his stripes managing the Quantum hedge fund in the 80s that returned 4200 percent compared to a 40 percent gain for the S&P 500 over the same period -- stepped down from managing duties at Soros Fund Management LLC in 2015, appointing macro trader Scott Bessent as manager. WSJ said Bessent's exit late last year may have also prompted him to come back.

Over the past many years, Soros has taken an interest in what he terms "political philanthropy", where he actively backs political candidates that espouse his progressive, liberal causes.