36 South

What 36 South does

36 South Capital Advisors LLP is a London-headquartered hedge fund manager specialising in long volatility investing and multi-asset class options-based strategies. Founded in 2001 by Richard 'Jerry' Haworth, originally in New Zealand, the firm manages approximately $2bn for institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds. It operates three principal fund strategies — the Kohinoor Strategy (managed by Haworth), the Lesedi Strategy, and the Carry Neutral Strategy (both managed by Neale Jackson) — all designed to deliver asymmetric, uncorrelated returns and crisis protection. The firm is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 477881) and maintains affiliated fund entities in the Cayman Islands and Ireland, with a second operational office in Abu Dhabi Global Market.

The firm's competitive position rests on three proprietary analytical tools developed and refined over more than two decades. GIVIX is a historical index of global multi-asset implied volatility used to identify pricing inefficiencies, complemented by Short-Dated GIVIX (one-month) and Long-Dated GIVIX (1–5 year) variants. MMRVIn is a portfolio composition and sizing tool used to construct convex "teams" of positions, while the proprietary Scanning Tools condense market data and behavioural information into candidate trade ideas. These tools underpin the firm's positioning as a specialist in systematic volatility exploitation rather than directional forecasting, and support its claim of never having missed a crisis under current leadership.

Revenue is generated through traditional hedge fund economics — management fees and performance fees on AUM — earned via private placement with institutional clients on contract-by-contract terms. Go-to-market is exclusively direct institutional sales, supported by a dedicated client coverage function comprising Head of Client Solutions and Head of Client Coverage roles. The firm is privately held by its partners, has not raised external equity, and is in the early stages of a leadership transition: in early 2025 Jerry Haworth stepped aside as CIO under a long-planned succession, with Jack de la Fargue assuming the role.

Name

36 South

Legal name

36 South Capital Advisors LLP

Website

https://36south.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

36 South Capital Advisors is a London-based hedge fund manager specialising in long volatility and multi-asset class options strategies, managing approximately $2bn for institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, and family offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hedge Fund Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Strategy — Equity L/S + Sector Specialists (FSAHAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Target-Risk / Risk-Managed Allocation Funds (FSAAAEAG), Target-Risk / Risk-Profile Model Portfolios (FSAAAJAD)

Keywords

• Long volatility investing
• Hedge fund management
• Crisis protection strategies
• Multi-asset derivatives
• Institutional asset management

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Hedge Fund Management: 36 South generates revenue through managing hedge fund strategies including the Kohinoor Strategy, Lesedi Strategy, and Carry Neutral Strategy. Revenue is earned through management fees and potentially performance fees on assets under management. With approximately $2bn in AUM, the firm operates as a traditional hedge fund manager targeting institutional investors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

36 South Capital Advisors is a London-based long volatility investment management firm that creates and manages portfolios with crisis protection. It designs asymmetric, uncorrelated, options-based strategies across global multi-asset classes (equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities) for institutional investors, managing approximately $2bn in assets through its flagship Kohinoor, Lesedi, and Carry Neutral strategies. The firm combines proprietary analytical tools (GIVIX, MMRVIn, Scanning Tools) with 24+ years of derivatives expertise to deliver tail-risk hedging and convex payoff structures.

Product overview

36 South Capital Advisors is a long volatility investment firm offering a unified suite of proprietary analytical tools and investment strategies. The core product portfolio consists of GIVIX (a global multi-asset implied volatility index), MMRVIn (portfolio composition and sizing tool), and proprietary Scanning tools. These analytical capabilities support multiple fund strategies including the Kohinoor Strategy, Lesedi Strategy, and Carry Neutral Strategy, all designed to provide institutional clients with asymmetric returns and crisis protection through multi-asset class options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GIVIX: A proprietary historical index of global multi-asset implied volatility used to discover value in implied volatility markets. Also includes Short-Dated GIVIX (one-month implied volatility) and Long-Dated GIVIX (1 to 5 year tenors).
• MMRVIn
• Kohinoor Strategy
• Lesedi Strategy
• Carry Neutral Strategy

Products and services

• Kohinoor Strategy A long volatility fund strategy managed by Richard 'Jerry' Haworth, focused on multi-asset class options positioning and crisis protection for institutional clients.
• Lesedi Strategy A long volatility fund strategy managed by Neale Jackson, employing multi-asset class options to deliver asymmetric, uncorrelated returns to institutional investors.
• Carry Neutral Strategy

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SEI Investments - Global Fund Services LimitedcoreOthersSEI serves as the Administrator for 36 South's investment funds, providing global fund services including investor record-keeping, subscription/redemption processing, and distribution payments. Acts as a separate data controller for AML and tax reporting obligations.
• 36 South Investment Managers (Cayman) LimitedcoreOthersAffiliate entity serving as the Procurement Agent of Kohinoor Core (Cayman) Master Fund and its Feeder Funds. Handles fund operations for vehicles domiciled in the Cayman Islands and Delaware, U.S.
• 36 South Investment Managers (Ireland) LimitedcoreOthersAffiliate entity serving as the Management Company of 36 South Funds ICAV and its sub-funds. Handles fund management for vehicles domiciled in Ireland under Central Bank of Ireland regulation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Universa Investments: Universa Investments is a long-volatility / tail-risk hedge fund founded by Mark Spitznagel, explicitly focused on crisis-alpha and convex option strategies for institutional clients — the closest direct peer to 36 South's Kohinoor/Lesedi funds in mandate and philosophy.
• Ruffer LLP: Ruffer is a UK-based investment manager with a flagship "Protection Strategies" fund selling convex, crisis-protection outcomes to UK and European institutional clients, overlapping directly with 36 South's client base and risk-management narrative.
• Capula Investment Management: London-based multi-strategy hedge fund manager running relative-value and volatility-linked strategies for institutional pensions and sovereign clients; comparable business model and EMEA institutional distribution footprint to 36 South.

Broad incumbents

• Brevan Howard Asset Management: Large macro/multi-strategy hedge fund with significant derivatives and options exposure run from London; competes with 36 South for institutional institutional risk-overlay and crisis-alpha mandates at a much larger scale.
• Man Group / AHL: Man Group's AHL is a leading systematic managed-futures/volatility franchise; overlapping in vol-selling/value-extraction and multi-asset options exposure, and competing for institutional risk-managed allocations.
• GAM Investments: Global asset manager offering systematic and discretionary alternative strategies (incl. GAM Systematic) used by institutional investors for tail-risk and multi-asset risk-managed overlays; broader incumbent with overlapping product set.
• Winton Group: London-based systematic / managed-futures manager trading multi-asset-class volatility and trend strategies for institutional clients; competes for the same pool of EMEA institutional risk-overlay capital as 36 South.
• Element Capital Management: Global systematic macro fund trading derivatives and volatility across asset classes; comparable in mandate scale and institutional positioning within the broader multi-strategy volatility ecosystem.
• Caxton Associates: Macro/discretionary multi-asset manager with significant options exposure; competes for institutional mandates seeking convex hedging and is a relevant comparable for 36 South's principal/PM-driven model.

Emerging players

• Cambridge Strategy (Asset Management): UK-based long-volatility and tail-risk specialist running funds designed to deliver crisis alpha — smaller and more emerging than 36 South but directly comparable in strategy and target client.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 36 South