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Alternatives

Tourbillion Joins Highfields, Criterion Capital in Recent Hedge Fund Closures

Struggling firm’s founder said the fund had ‘recently not delivered’ expected results, and will return more than $1 billion by year-end.

By Chris Butera

A third hedge fund has ceased operations within a week due to lackluster returns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Tourbillion Capital Partners joins Highfields Capital and Criterion Capital Management’s shutdowns. It will refund the money to its clients and stop its main fund, the firm said in a Monday email.

The firm had $4 billion in assets in 2016, but had been struggling for some time. Its flagship fund was down 3.2% this year, and assets sank this year to about $2 billion, according to the Journal.

Tourbillion opened in 2013, returning 21% that year. Its returns were positive through 2015, but began to decline in 2016. It lost 13.8% last year, the publication’s sources said.

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In the letter, Tourbillion’s founder, Jason Karp, told clients the fund had “recently not delivered the results that you expect of us and what we know we are capable of.” Its main fund is expected to return more than $1 billion in client money by the end of the year.

Karp and other senior members of the firm will continue to invest in stocks, but in a “radically different unconstrained manner,” the letter said, that would “allow us to focus only on our highest conviction ideas.”

As hedge funds struggle to perform, they must reevaluate their businesses. Some close, while others reduce their fees, which have come under criticisms from pension funds and other institutional investors in recent years.

Despite these closings, more hedge funds have launched in the first half of 2018. Industry index Hedge Fund Research reported 270 closures and 306 openings. At the end of the second quarter, the index reported 8,413 hedge funds in existence.

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Home > News > Corporate Moves > Russell Investments’ Global CIO Jeff Hussey Is Leaving
Corporate Moves

Russell Investments’ Global CIO Jeff Hussey Is Leaving

Peter Gunning, who once had the role, resumes it until a replacement is found.

By Chris Butera

Jeff Hussey



Russell Investments’ global chief investment officer, Jeff Hussey, is departing next week, and his predecessor will replace him for the time being.

Hussey, who had been at the firm for 27 years, was in the CIO job for a little more than five years, succeeding Peter Gunning in August 2013. A 22-year Russell employee, Gunning had moved to lead Russell’s Asia-Pacific region as the division’s chief executive officer.

While Russell searches for a replacement for Hussey, Gunning will step back into his old CIO role, while keeping the Asia-Pacific position. Gunning is also a member of the organization’s executive committee and global leadership forum.

“Pete has extensive investment leadership experience, a reputation for investment innovation, and a superior long-term investment performance track record,” a Russell spokesperson told CIO, noting that the changes had been announced to clients last month. “Pete will help build on the positive trajectory of our business, working closely with Russell Investments’ deep and talented investment leadership team.”

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This comes at a time where the landscape of Russell’s C-suite is changing. Rick Smirl in July became the company’s chief operating officer. He previously was executive director at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (which last week appointed David Villa to replace him as the Wisconsin organization’s CIO). Another big change was naming Michelle Seitz as the new Russell CEO a year ago.  She joined the firm in the top job after Len Brennan stepped down.

Russell has roughly $290 billion in assets.

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