Cypress Lane Asia hedge fund to shut down

Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Author: Michael Flaherty, Reuters

A former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) trader is shutting his Cypress Lane Asia hedge fund and returning investors' money a little more than a year after starting it, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The fund, with $25 million of assets as of September, lost nearly 10 percent in the 14 months since its August 2009 inception, the news agency reported, citing a letter sent to investors, adding that the fund returned 1.5 percent in October.

Shafiq Karmali, a former Goldman trader, started the long-short fund.

Several high profile "spinoff" hedge funds launched in Asia in the last few years, led by former hotshot traders and managers at large banks and hedge funds.

But several of the new managers have struggled while striking out on their own.

Reuters reported in April that Asia hedge fund DragonBack, set up in 2007 by the former co-head of equities at Lehman Brothers, saw its assets plunge by 85 percent to around $45 million during a 12-month period.

Karmali could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.