MarketWatch- One of the U.K.’s largest hedge fund managers has closed a fund with assets of more than $500 million (EUR360 million) as market conditions continue to buffet the sector.
BlueCrest Capital Management, with almost $12 billion of assets under management at the end of June, last week told investors it was shutting an equity fund after a period of unacceptable performance.
The fund recorded losses of 8.2% for the first eight months of the year, including a 5.4% loss in August, according to a spokesman for the firm who said market conditions were “bizarre.”
The decision reflects the pressure on managers struggling to cope with market turmoil. Virtually all hedge fund strategies continued to show losses for the second half of August, according to performance data provided by a hedge fund investor, seen by Financial News.
Investors thought the BlueCrest fund was following a market neutral strategy, which was supposed to be unaffected by the stock market’s overall direction. Investors had also bought the fund on the expectation they would make between 12% and 15% a year.
But BlueCrest said last month’s losses showed the fund was not performing as expected. It has generated a net return of 5.3% a year on average since launch three years ago.
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