(Bloomberg) — Christophe Aurand, the former co-chief investment officer of York Capital Management who started his own hedge fund about three years ago, is handing back capital to investors as returns failed to meet expectations.
His London-based Nekton Capital will focus on managing internal funds going forward, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The firm’s assets peaked at more than $1 billion and it currently manages about $600 million, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.
The stocks-focused, market-neutral hedge fund produced positive returns since launch but found it challenging to generate enough gains as the strategy faced a thin market driven by fewer stocks, the person added.
A representative for the investment firm declined to comment.
Aurand’s fund joins almost 2,400 hedge funds that have returned clients’ capital or shut down since 2020, exceeding launches. Firms focused on stocks trading and led by individuals have been particularly hit, with investors migrating to bigger multistrategy investment firms where teams of traders invest across asset classes to produce steady returns.
Nekton was one of the biggest hedge fund launches in 2021 and Aurand moved to London from New York to start the firm with a team of about a dozen people.
At his peak, Aurand managed assets of more than $10 billion at York Capital and founded the firm’s international businesses in London and Hong Kong. He worked there for almost two decades and left when the firm said it was getting out of its hedge fund strategies to focus on longer-term investment products.
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