MarketWatch – Pirate Capital LLC has lost several analysts and one portfolio manager this week after returns at the $1.7 billion activist hedge fund slipped this year.
Two analysts, Zachary George and David Lorber, resigned on Tuesday and fixed-income portfolio manager Carl Klein resigned on Wednesday, Pirate Founder Thomas Hudson wrote in a Thursday letter to investors, a copy of which was obtained by MarketWatch.
Hudson also said he asked two other analysts, David Muccia and Matthew Goldfarb, to resign on Wednesday.
Pirate Capital, which has seen assets surge from $2 million in 2002 to $1.7 billion, will close to new investors as of Oct. 1. The firm will now focus on returns, not asset growth, Hudson said in the letter. Hudson also said he has no intention of liquidating positions or closing the firm.
Stephanie Tran, a member of Pirate’s investment team who remains at the firm, declined to comment on Thursday afternoon.
