'I antagonise people,' says Hugh Hendry. 'It's part of my skill set.' This single-minded attitude has helped Hendry to develop a successful contrarian investment style. His Odey Continental European fund had an impressive run towards the end of 2002, he decided equities generally 'were just not working' and cut the fund's equity exposure from 100% to 50% with 35% in bonds and 10% in non-European gold stocks. His career got off to a difficult start when he joined Baillie Gifford in 1990 as one of the firm's first non-Oxbridge educated recruits. After four years on the US desk, he fell out with his superior, a Baillie Gifford partner. After a short stint at Credit Suisse, his idiosyncratic talent was spotted by Odey founder Crispin Odey. He spent six years with the group before moving to his current home of Eclectica Asset Management, where he now heads up their European and agriculture mandates.