Business Times Malaysia – Hedge funds posted their biggest decline on record last year, losing US$350 billion globally, as the credit crisis crippled returns and forced investors to pull money out, an industry report showed.

About 90 per cent of the money was lost in the three months to the end of November, according to a preliminary report published on Monday by Singapore-based data provider Eurekahedge.

Funds that invested in North America declined the most, posting a drop of US$183 billion for the year, the report said.

The hedge-fund industry shrank by about a fifth to US$1.5 trillion at the end of the year from a peak of US$1.9 trillion, Eurekahedge said.

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group has frozen redemptions from its two largest hedge funds after investors moved to withdraw $1.2 billion, according to a letter sent to clients on Friday.

The letter, signed by CEO Kenneth Griffin, informed investors that withdraws in the Kensington and Wellington Funds may resume as early as March 31^st.  The funds, which manage about $10 billion making them the firms largest, have lost 49.5 percent of their value this year through December 5^th.

“We have not made this decision lightly,” Griffin said.  “We recognize how a suspension impacts our investors, especially those with current financial obligations of their own to meet.”

The letter also stated that Citadel will absorb a large portion of the funds’ expenses, something that clients usually are responsible for, in the range of 3 to 4 percent of assets. 

While Citadel’s two largest funds may be struggling to get through the year, three other funds in the Citadel family which manage about $3 billion, have climbed 40 percent this year.

This marks only the second year since the firm’s launch in 1990 that Citadel will report a loss.  The only other loss was posted in 1994, at 4 percent.  Hedge funds as a whole have had posted one of the worst years to date, losing 18 percent on average, according to data compiled by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research. 

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge Fund firm Tudor Investment Corp. has suspended investor redemptions from its $10 billion BVI Global unit until March 31^st, giving the company time to split the fund into two. 

BVI Global was hit by a wave of client redemption requests after investors moved to withdraw 14 percent of their capital, according to a recent letter to investors.  The hedge fund posted a loss of about 5 percent this year, while hedge funds as a whole lost an average of 22 percent through November 24th according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.

Tudor Investment Corp., run by Paul Tudor Jones, wants to separate the corporate bonds and loans from emerging markets and start a new fund called Legacy, according to a recent letter to investors.  The BVI flagship fund will stick with its staple of stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities.  

The company is asking clients to approve the split within the next two months.  Capital would be placed into both the BVI Global Fund and the Legacy Fund, depending on the division of assets.

Tudor Investment Corp. manages approximately $17 billion.  Jones’ Tudor Futures Fund has posted gains of 21 percent this year while the firm’s Tensor Fund Ltd has seen returns of about 34 percent, according to people familiar with the matter.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com

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