JO Hambro Capital Management is closing a hedge fund after it crashed and burned betting against Volkswagen shares.
The US$240 million Trident European Fund is thought to be among the first casualties of bad short bets against VW, which saw its shares soar on news that Porsche owned options allowing it to take its stake in the German carmaker to 75%.
Trident lost 25% last month on the VW trade, its worst month ever, according to Bloomberg News. It is down 39% year-to-date.
Trident’s board “has concluded that the fund should be wound down and placed in voluntary liquidation,” JO Hambro said in a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange. The firm will continue to run its other hedge fund, the Trident North Atlantic Fund.
JO Hambro manages some US$3.5 billion, mostly in mutual and private equity funds.
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