LONDON (Reuters) - London-based Lansdowne Partners is closing its main hedge fund, a long-short strategy that manages $2.8 billion in assets under management, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The closure of the Lansdowne Developed Markets Fund follows losses of 23% in the January-June period. It earned returns of 1.3% in 2019 and losses of 7% in 2018, said the source.
Hedge funds that buy and short stocks, like the Developed Markets Fund, were down 5.7% in the first five months of the year, according to data from industry tracker Hedge Fund Research.
In a letter to investors, first reported by Institutional Investor late on Monday, Lansdowne said the restructuring would kick into effect on Oct. 1 and investors could shift their allocation to its Developed Markets Long Only Fund or the new Opportunities Fund.
The $1.12 billion long-only strategy was down 26.5% in the year to June 30, the source said. It made 18.6% in 2019 and lost 11.8% in 2018, according to data compiled by HSBC and seen by Reuters.
Founded in 1998 by Paul Ruddock and Steven Heinz, Lansdowne is one of Britain's oldest hedge fund firms.