Moore Capital Management hedge fund trader Greg Coffey retires at age 41 with $665 million

A FLAMBOYANT hedge fund trader nicknamed the Wizard of Oz has announced his retirement at the tender age of 41 – with a fortune of $665 million (£430m) to enjoy.

London-based Greg Coffey also has a portfolio of luxury properties dotted all over the world.

Sydney-born and Macquarie University graduated Coffey, who famously walked away from a $250million golden handcuffs deal in 2008, said he was ending his 20-year career to spend more time with his wife and three young children.

He revealed his decision to retire in a letter to investors of Moore Capital Management which is run by American billionaire industry pioneer Louis Bacon.

“After nearly 20 years in the financial markets I’ve decided to leave the industry,” Mr Coffey, once tipped as a possible successor to Mr Bacon, wrote.

“The demands of my growing family mean that I am unable to commit to the market with the same intensity going forward.

“I plan on seeing much more of my wife and children and spending time in my home country, Australia.”

The obsessional trading style of ‘The Wizard’ was the stuff of legend. He would have his trading terminals flown to his hotel wherever he was on holiday, then re-assembled to allow him to trade through the night while his wife and children slept.

He apparently demanded a cup of coffee be delivered to his desk at the same time every day, even if he was not in.

In 2008, Mr Coffey stunned traders when he turned down a seemingly irresistible $250million deal to stay with his then employer, hedge fund GLG Partners.

He went on to join Moore, where Mr Bacon described him as “one of the most impressive traders in the world”.

Mr Coffey has mansions in London and Sydney, and bought the sprawling Ardfin estate in the Hebridean Island of Jura in 2008 when it was on the market for $5.42 million ( £3.5m).

The hunting estate includes several houses and cottages, prolific red deer stalking, ten miles of coastline and seven private islands.

Mr Coffey, who is said to prefer jeans and leather jackets to suits, graduated with a degree in actuarial studies from Sydney’s Macquarie University and in 1994 started trading.

He averaged annual return to investors of 22 per cent.

When he joined Moore he headed the firm’s European operations and was in charge of the firm’s Emerging Markets fund, at one stage overseeing a portfolio totalling several billion dollars.

But his funds reportedly diminished to such an extent that this year he was overseeing just ‘a few hundred million’, said one investor.