Stone Milliner Asset Management, the macro hedge fund started by former Moore Capital Management traders, is winding down following poor performance and client withdrawals, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The London-based firm told investors Tuesday that it would return capital in its flagship macro fund, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Stone Milliner oversaw about $3 billion as of the end of last month, compared with about $6 billion at its peak, said the person.
A spokeswoman for Stone Milliner confirmed all assets would be returned to investors by December following an orderly wind-down.
Stone Milliner joins a cohort of hedge funds throwing in the towel as their clients revolt against years of mediocre returns and high fees. Investors have yanked $87.9 billion from hedge funds this year, more than twice as much as in all of 2018, according to data compiled by eVestment. Closures have outnumbered launches since 2015 as managers throw in the towel amid increasing competition.
Stone Milliner was started in 2012 by former Moore traders Jens-Peter Stein, Kornelius Klobucar, and Chris Nicoll. Moore invested about $800 million with the hedge fund, and for a few years provided it with back- and middle-office support. Like Moore, Stone Milliner has multiple portfolio managers, with a focus on trading currencies and interest-rates across emerging and developed markets, investor documents show.
The decision to shutter Stone Milliner comes almost a week after Moore said it would return outside capital from its macro hedge funds and that billionaire founder Louis Bacon would quit trading after 30 years in the hedge fund business.
“The principals at Stone Milliner have been excellent partners through many years,” Devin Broda, a representative for Moore, said in a statement.
Stone Milliner posted strong gains in its early years, with annualized returns of 11.5% from its inception through mid-2015, the documents show. But since then, performance has waned. It lost money in 2017 — the only down year — and gained 1.2% last year, according to investor updates. The fund returned about 1% this year through October.
Macro funds, which trade everything from the euro to oil, have failed to beat broader markets in recent years amid soaring stock valuations and ultra-low interest rates. So far this year, they’ve gained 4.6% on average, according to Bloomberg indexes.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
