A weary Arthur J. Samberg, leader of $3 billion-plus hedge fund Pequot Capital Management Inc., is liquidating his firm amid a reopened insider trading investigation.
In a letter to investors,
Samberg said that "public disclosures about the continuing investigation have cast a cloud over the firm and have become a source of personal distraction."
The firm plans to liquidate its "core funds" and return cash to investors while spinning out the Matawin portfolio under the leadership of Mike Corasaniti and the special opportunities fund under Rob Webster and Paul Mellinger. The spinouts will happen by year's end.
In an otherwise somber-toned letter, Samberg gave high praise to Pequot Partners Fund, pointing out that a client who invested in it at inception earned a net annualized 16.8% return over 22 years versus the S&P's 8.5% return during that period. More recently, the fund generated annual returns of 10.1% over the past five years and 1.8% in 2009 through April 30 (not especially bad in times of a global recession).
Samberg founded Pequot in 1998 to manage the Pequot Family of Funds, which began trading in 1986. -
Baz HiralalSamberg's letter to investorsGo to the story
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