Brevan Howard, the $17bn (£8.3bn) London hedge fund manager, on Friday agreed to sell a 15 per cent stake to Swiss Re, the reinsurer, in the latest move by a big hedge fund to cash in.

Brevan, founded by Alan Howard and a team from Credit Suisse in 2003, specialises in global macro investing, such as betting on interest rates and currencies, and has performed strongly this year.