Spices. Parrots. $12 Billion. One Moroccan

Hamza Lemssouguer built a $12 billion credit empire in four years. Now he's betting on parrots, children, and endangered species too.

In the world of credit investing, four years is barely enough time to find your footing. For Hamza Lemssouguer, it was enough to build one of Europe's most dominant hedge funds from scratch.

At 29, Lemssouguer was the wunderkind of Credit Suisse  generating $120 million in profits on their junk bond desk single-handedly.

He wasn't running a team. He wasn't a managing director with decades behind him. He was a young Moroccan-born trader from École Polytechnique who simply saw risk differently from everyone else in the room.

When he and Credit Suisse eventually parted ways, he stuck with a familiar recipe  just under his own name. In 2022, he launched Arini Capital Management out of London with roughly $1 billion in backing.

What happened next was rare even by hedge fund standards.

Arini posted 25.8% in 2023 and 22.2% in 2024  against an average 1.4% return for credit hedge funds over the same period. By mid-2025, the fund had grown to around $12 billion in assets, with revenues hitting $189 million and profits doubling year on year.

What does Arini actually do? The short answer: it hunts in the debt markets where traditional banks no longer go. As conventional financing sources pull back and debt raised during low interest rate years comes due, many European borrowers face a funding gap  companies with strong underlying assets but no clear path to refinancing. Arini steps in, takes large directional positions, and profits when restructurings play out. It's not passive investing.

It's high-conviction, often aggressive credit work  the kind that wins and loses big.

Today, over 80% of Arini's assets sit in performing credit across public and private markets, with the remainder in special situations and distressed debt. The firm now employs over 105 people across London, New York, and a newly opened Abu Dhabi office  positioned to tap sovereign wealth funds and the UAE's growing status as a global hedge fund hub.

But the story doesn't end at the trading desk.

Lemssouguer and his wife Aline  a former Credit Suisse credit sales VP  have launched the A&H Foundation, focused on education and wildlife conservation across South America and Africa. The foundation works with local communities, scientists, governments, and NGOs to educate children and protect endangered species while honouring local cultures and traditions.

He also breeds parrots on a farm in Surrey, with ambitions to eventually support reintroduction efforts in the wild.

At 35, Lemssouguer is already the kind of name that gets whispered before it gets published. In European credit circles, if your company needs rescuing or your debt needs restructuring, there's a decent chance Arini is already in the room. And when the markets close, there's an equally decent chance he's back in Surrey, thinking about what comes next  financial or otherwise.

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