Market and investment 3 min read
What listed litigation funders publish, and how to read it.
Burford Capital and Omni Bridgeway have published their results for years. Multiple, IRR and duration are read together, and only on concluded cases.
Pauline ANDRIEU, partner, international tax lawyer Updated
Burford Capital and Omni Bridgeway, two litigation funders listed on the stock market, have published their figures in audited accounts for years. Their publications show what litigation funding has produced, across many cases and over a long period. They call for careful reading, because several traps distort comparisons.
Why these figures exist.
A listed company must publish its results. Burford Capital is listed in New York and London, and Omni Bridgeway on the Australian stock exchange. Both publish audited accounts, periodic reports and investor presentations.
The sector therefore has a public, verifiable track record. These are third‑party figures, unrelated to the performance of Hello Justice Capital 1.
The measures that matter.
| Measure | The question it answers | The reading trap |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple | How much did each sum committed return? | It ignores time. |
| IRR | How fast did the capital work? | It falls as duration lengthens, for the same multiple. |
| Duration | How long is the capital tied up? | It depends mainly on the court calendar. |
The multiple answers the question “how much?”. A multiple of 1.8 means that each dollar committed to concluded cases returned $1.80, capital included.
The IRR, or internal rate of return, answers the question “how fast?”. It relates the gain to the time during which the capital was committed.
Duration depends on the court calendar, on appeals and on enforcement. The three measures are read together, and only on concluded cases.
Burford Capital’s figures.
Burford Capital reports a multiple of 1.8 and an IRR of 25% on its cases concluded since 2009, as at 31 March 2026. Burford takes on cases of at least $5 million. Its portfolio brings together large commercial disputes and international arbitrations. This cumulative figure since 2009 smooths out differences from one year to the next.
Omni Bridgeway’s figures.
Omni Bridgeway, present in 15 countries, reports a cumulative multiple of 2.4 on its concluded cases. This figure aggregates very different countries and types of dispute.
At both companies, litigation funding has produced multiples above 1 over a long period.
Realised and estimated.
The main trap is to confuse realised and estimated figures. The figures quoted cover concluded and collected cases. Funders also publish the value of their pending cases, based on each company’s own assumptions. Faced with a figure, the first thing to establish is whether it covers concluded cases or estimates.
Different scopes.
A portfolio of cases above $5 million does not have the same duration or the same risk as a portfolio of disputes worth €100,000 to €1m. Burford’s and Omni Bridgeway’s figures describe the business of those companies. They describe neither another segment nor another portfolio.
What these figures do not say.
Past performance is no guide to future performance. These references show what other companies achieved, in other conditions and over other periods. They are not a promise of return for any vehicle, ours included.
How a portfolio is built is a matter for each vehicle’s documentation. Hello Justice Capital 1 is offered as a private placement (article L. 411-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code), from €100,000. Its documentation is provided after the investor’s eligibility has been checked.
Why we cite them.
An investor discovering litigation funding wants to know whether the mechanism has already worked, across many cases and over a long period. Burford’s and Omni Bridgeway’s accounts answer that question with audited figures anyone can check. How a portfolio is built and selected is then judged company by company.
Our approach is described on the Hello Justice Capital 1 fund page and in our article on decorrelation.
