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International Herald Tribune – Fund manager Polar Capital Holdings said on Friday that assets under management in the nine months to December fell by 22 percent to $2.45 billion (1.65 billion pounds), due to market deterioration.
The fund manager, which runs hedge funds and long-only funds, said it expects $500 million of redemptions in the three months to March.
The resignation of Julian Barnett, manager of its Paragon hedge fund, is expected to bring about a further $400 million outflows when the fund is wound up.
CNBC – Ongoing hedge fund losses and liquidations spooked markets Wednesday, and some of the biggest names in the mix now are Citadel Investments and Highland.
Hedge funds had their worst month ever in September, with average losses of 6.2 percent, according to an estimate by TrimTabs Investment Research.
All major categories of funds chalked up losses over the month, but emerging markets, long equity funds and distressed strategies had the worst results. The declines came as investors withdrew $43 billion from hedge funds—almost seven times the previous monthly record for redemptions, TrimTabs said.
Citadel confirmed to CNBC that its flagship Kensington and Wellington funds, which hold around $15 billion in assets, are down between 26 percent and 30 percent so far this year.
New York Times – Kenneth C. Griffin was one of those Wall Street whiz kids. As a teenager, he traded out of his dorm room at Harvard. In his 20s, he opened his own hedge fund. In his 30s, he boasted that his company might one day rival Goldman Sachs.
But it can be tough for a boy wonder to grow up — particularly in the midst of the gravest financial crisis since the Depression. A week before his 40th birthday, Mr. Griffin finds himself in an unaccustomed position: on the defensive.
The Citadel Group of Chicago, the giant hedge fund that Mr. Griffin has run so successfully for nearly 20 years, is leaking money. As of Sept. 30, its two main investment funds were down 20 percent this year, according to Citadel investors. Most of the losses came in the last few weeks, when the markets swooned. Two other smaller Citadel funds are still well in the black.
Times Online- They may be partly responsible for the mess the banks are in but bankers are not sticking around for the clean-up. Many top bankers have lost confidence in their institutions and are quietly heading for the exit. The smart ones, it seems, are going to hedge funds.
GLG, Europe’s largest hedge fund, recently poached Goldman Sachs partner and top trader Driss Ben-Brahim. The bank was “not amused” by Ben-Brahim’s defection, according to one source.
Karim Abdel-Motaal and Bart Turtelboom, the global co-heads of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, were also snapped up by GLG.
Last week, Fauchier Partners, a fund of hedge funds, announced the appointment of Jamie Kermisch. Also from Morgan Stanley, he has been in investment banking for 19 years. This follows high-level recruitment by Citadel, Tudor Investment and CQS, which has already drafted in some 45 people this year.
