Globe and Mail – Epic Capital Management Inc. is closing its flagship hedge fund in what could be the precursor to a number of shutdowns in the troubled industry.

The Toronto firm’s assets tumbled from $300-million to $200-million as markets crashed and investors asked for their money, leading the managers to decide that giving remaining investors in Epic Limited Partnership their cash back was the prudent move, said founder and chief executive officer David Fawcett.

Epic focused on finding underpriced mid-sized Canadian companies, but that strategy couldn’t protect the firm from the market meltdown. Epic’s main fund has fallen about 43 per cent so far this year.

"We wanted to do it while we could and didn’t have a gun to our head," said Mr. Fawcett, who added that he expects a "pretty orderly unwind."

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