Executive search firm Battalia Winston Amrop has acquired the executive search business of Centennial Advisory Group, which specializes in recruitment for the alternative investment industry.

Collapsed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors has dropped its $350 million lawsuit against Touradji Capital Management.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based firm, which lost more than $6 billion on bad natural gas bets three years ago, said that its continuing investigation has found that the commodities hedge fund shop did not breach its contract with Amaranth to buy the failing hedge fund’s base metals portfolio.

The Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Hedge Fund Generals index up 60% year-to-date (as of mid-November), outperforming the S&P 500 by approximately 40%.

The most pessimistic hedge fund index in the world did not disappoint in October.

A pair of prominent hedge funds is betting big on Citigroup.

Brevan Howard Asset Management, the largest hedge fund manager in Europe, has parted ways with one of its founding partners.

Commodity hedge fund shop Touradji Capital Managament hasn’t lost its taste for gold, but it has restructured its bet on the precious metal.

The $2.7 billion New York-based hedge fund has amassed an US$84.7 million stake in Barrick Gold Corp., Bloomberg News reports.

Mark Campbell, the former head of U.K. hedge fund distribution at JPMorgan Fleming, has lost his battle with cancer.

Future Capital Partners, a £6 billion (US$10 billion) alternative investment boutique, has appointed Andrew Derrington to its business development team.

Tokyo-headquartered Nikko Asset Management has hired Michael Herring to run the firm’s U.S. operations.