Citadel Vet Boas Pulls Plug On Hedge Fund Plans Following Failed Fundraising

An impressive pedigree from Citadel Investment Group wasn't enough to convince investors to back Chris Boas' planned hedge fund.

Boas's Longwood Credit Partners is the latest victim of an increasingly difficult fundraising environment. The London-based firm, which had hoped to begin trading in the first quarter, will not "pursue investor funds due to fundraising market conditions," a spokesman told Bloomberg News.

Longwood's struggle to find clients comes at a particularly tough time for European hedge funds, which investors are shying away from. Europe was the only one of 13 geographic regions tracked by Credit Suisse Group to see negative demand for hedge funds last year.

Investors refused to back Boas in spite a résumé that featured stints as head of credit for Citadel's hedge funds and as head of credit markets and co-head of institutional sales at Citadel's investment-banking unit, Citadel Securities. Boas also formerly worked at Morgan Stanley.

Boas planned to run a fixed-income arbitrage strategy at Longwood, and had hired fellow Citadel veteran Keshev Lall to serve as an analyst at the firm.