Winton Hit With $1 Billion In Withdrawals

A prominent hedge fund has suffered $1 billion in redemptions. And it isn't SAC Capital Advisors.

Clients yanked $1 billion from Winton Capital Management last year, which was also the quantitative hedge fund's second down year in 15. The London-based firm's assets under management fell from US$29 billion to US$26 billion during the last eight months of 2012; about one-third of the decline was due to redemptions, Reuters reports.

Winton's flagship lost 3.5% last year. But that decline is not what's behind the withdrawals; instead, according to Reuters, some investors are not happy with firm founder David Harding's decision to cut risk during the financial crisis.

"That decision not to target high levels of risk appears to still resonate well with institutional and pension fund investors," a Winton spokesman said.