In a letter to investors yesterday, the $15.5 billion firm said it had formally made the move to the offshore tax haven of Guernsey on 1 April, a few days before the UK government brought in a 50 per cent top income tax rate for people earning £150,000 a year or more, according to media reports.

Parts of the financial services industry have warned that rising taxes, levies and regulatory changes will encourage investors and wealth managers to leave the UK and relocate to places such as the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Singapore. A practical issue, however, as highlighted by WealthBriefing recently, is the cost of moving abroad and difficulty in sometimes finding affordable housing and providing education for children in areas such as Geneva. (To view the article on the issues of moving to Switzerland, click here).

“BlueCrest has implemented this reorganisation to reflect the increasingly global nature of our business, and to ensure the safeguarding and enhancement of our industry-leading human capital base,” Michael Platt, founder, wrote to clients, reports said.

Brevan Howard, the UK hedge fund firm, has opened a Geneva office but the firm has said this move was not motivated by tax; Pedro de Noronha, fund manager at Noster Capital, has said he would quit the UK for Switzerland, Monaco or Miami if higher tax rates took effect in the UK.