When James Pallotta announced plans to spin-off his Raptor Global hedge fund from Tudor Investment Corp. this summer, he probably didn’t foresee a catastrophe getting in the way. But Pallotta will strike out on his own anyway, albeit with a new timetable and new conditions.

In a letter to investors yesterday, Pallotta said he will wait until next year to formally begin trading at Boston-based Raptor Group Holdings, hoping that the market volatility that has sent the fund to a 13% loss this year will run its course this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. He’s also asking investors to accept a new long-term lockup, though details of the new terms, such as the precise length of the lock-up, are yet to be specified.

“I believe that having longer lock-up money will enable my team to focus on identifying compelling longer-term micro and macro investment themes—some of which are just impossible to execute effectively on the quarterly model,” Pallotta wrote. Current Raptor investors will be able to withdraw their money at the end of the year; those choosing to stay in it will be subject to the lock-up. In exchange, Pallotta said Raptor Global will be subject to a high water-mark, meaning it won’t begin collecting performance fees until it recoups its losses.

“In our view, an ideal time for positioning a substantial recovery in equities will be between now and mid-2009 as economic and corporate profit recovery in 2010 becomes a more legitimate scenario,” he explained. “Trying to ‘call a bottom’ has wounder many severely.”

Raptor, which managed $9 billion as recently as last year, now has less than $5 billion in assets. Pallotta has moved most of Raptor’s assets into cash as he tries to ride out the storm.

The launch of Raptor Group Holdings will officially mark the end of Pallotta’s 15-year formal collaboration with Tudor founder Paul Tudor Jones, one of the most successful in the history of the industry despite this year’s hiccups. Pallotta’s new firm will continue to collaborate with Greenwich, Conn.-based Tudor—earlier reports have indicated that Pallotta will continue investing money for Tudor’s flagship BVI Global Fund.