Brevan Howard, the $8.5bn hedge fund, has closed its office in Israel despite British billionaire Alan Howard's close links to the country.

The departure follows several difficult years for the UK hedge fund company and comes amid plans to rein in costs and reverse an exodus of investors from its funds. Brevan Howard's assets have declined from a peak of $40bn in 2013 to $8.5bn this year. In 2017 its macro fund lost 5.4%, its worst annual performance since the flagship fund was launched in 2003.