Billions made trading inflation

For February, Kenya’s inflation rate rose to 3,5 percent from 3,3 percent in January.

Most of the world hates inflation. For Nikhil Choraria and a small band of traders, it’s an opportunity.

The Goldman Sachs Group partner is a leading practitioner of the obscure art of inflation trading, a niche business that’s exploded — very lucratively — for some of the world’s major banks and hedge funds.

Choraria, 38 and based in London, orchestrates often-complex transactions designed to profit from gyrations in inflation.

Over the past year, his team picked the right side on trades underpinned by the biggest inflationary spike in decades, which convulsed the global economy and even blindsided some central bankers.

They helped generate US$450 million in revenue in 2021, twice what they made in previous years, according to people familiar with the bank.

At JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, global head of non-linear rates Gil Holmes helped generate about US$300 million from inflation trading last year, while traders at Barclays and Morgan Stanley also profited, people familiar with the situation said.— Bloomberg.