Hedge Fund Sloane Robinson to Shut After More Than 25 Years
Hedge Fund Sloane Robinson to Shut After More Than 25 Years
(Bloomberg) -- Sloane Robinson is closing as it struggles to raise enough capital, joining a string of high-profile hedge funds to shutter in recent years.
The firm, which began investing in 1994, will shut at the end of 2020 and wind down its Global Opportunities and Global Compounder portfolios, according to a letter to investors seen by Bloomberg. David Gale, chief executive officer of the London-based investment firm, declined to comment beyond the letter.
“Despite strong investment performance amidst difficult market conditions, we have not succeeded in acquiring the required assets to support this franchise and the partnership remains dependent on revenue from the legacy funds of the founding partners,” the firm told investors in the letter dated Monday.
Sloane Robinson, which was founded by Hugh Sloane and George Robinson and specializes in emerging and Asian markets equities trading, managed more than $10 billion at its peak prior to the 2008 financial crisis, but assets dropped sharply in recent years. In 2012, the firm restructured its business and investment-management team.
It’s the latest victim of a tough money-raising environment by hedge funds. For much of the past decade, investors have revolted over high fees and lackluster returns. Clients have pulled more than $130 billion since the start of last year, according to data compiled by eVestment, and hedge fund liquidations in the first quarter jumped to the highest level in more than four years.
Sloane Robinson joins a list of prominent names that have recently called it quits amid a generational shift. Louis Bacon said last year that he was stepping back, as returns once routinely in the double digits dribbled away, and John Paulson is converting his firm into a family office.
“We are all now well into our sixties and are looking to step back from the business,” Sloane, Robinson and the firm’s partner Richard Chenevix-Trench wrote in the letter.
Sloane Robinson’s International and Japan portfolios will continue to be managed by Hugh Sloane, but from Tantallon Capital, a firm based in Singapore, according to the letter. Its pan-Asia Select portfolio, currently managed by Robinson, will also transfer to Tantallon.
The hedge fund is also seeking a “suitable home” for its Emerging Market and Frontier portfolios. Throughout the process, founding partners’ capital will remain invested and continue to be actively managed, according to the letter. The firm also said it expects to retain all key investment personnel until year-end.
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