Hotshot trader Boaz Weinstein may have harpooned the London Whale, but his main fund barely has its head above water.
Weinstein’s Saba Capital Master Fund is up only 0.62 percent for the year through July 31, according to an investor letter obtained by The Post.
If the 38-year-old investor doesn’t fashion a second-half comeback,his reputation for trading genius will no doubt take a big hit.
The 3-year-old hedge fund suffered its worst monthly setback in July — down 1.75 percent — after it cleared trades related to the Whale.
Another Saba fund, a so-called tail-risk fund, is down 12 percent for the year, according to an investor.
As first reported in The Post, the former Deutsche Bank credit-derivatives trader who runs the $5.7 billion Saba Capital Management was the first to shine a light on the huge credit-default swap index trade of former JPMorgan trader Bruno Iksil, aka the London Whale.
Losses on that trade are expected to cost JPM about $6 billion — and have sullied the reputation of CEO Jamie Dimon, considered one of Wall Street’s brightest lights.
Weinstein’s funds lost money early in the year, when Iksil’s humongous bets were pummeling everyone on the other side.
But with reports in April about the Whale’s outsize positions, the market started to shift, and Weinstein’s numbers began to improve.
In early May, JPM finally admitted it was losing money on the trade, and the hedge funds on the other side started cashing in big time.
Saba Capital gained 1.28 percent in May and 1.42 percent in June, in part because of the JPMorgan trade.
Another Saba hedge fund, Saba Capital Tail Risk Fund, profited more directly off the Whale trade, according to investors. That fund, which is designed to profit in a down market, gained about 22 percent in May, but is still down 12 percent for the year.
Weinstein reportedly exited the Whale trade sometime in June.
Ironically, Saba did not turn out to be the hedge fund that profited most from JPMorgan’s woes.
Instead, BlueMountain Capital Management, headed by former JPM trader Andrew Feldstein, became the big winner.
BlueMountain’s Credit Alternatives Fund gained 10.92 percent through July, and 25 percent of that came from the JPM trade, the firm said in an investor letter.
BlueMountain first profited by being on the other side of the Whale, then it came to JPM¹s defense, helping to unwind the trade. In May, its fund gained 3.19 percent; it rose another 1.43 percent in June.
Investors say that Weinstein has been bearish all year, which seems to have broken his winning streak. Saba was up 9 percent in 2011 and almost 11 percent in 2010.
Saba and BlueMountain declined to comment.