Citigroup’s flagship hedge fund, Old Lane Partners, fell 5.9 percent in August, a month that saw turmoil in global stock and bond markets, according to people familiar with the matter, MarketWatch reports.
The August loss means Old Lane is now up about 1.9 percent so far this year. While plenty of prominent hedge funds have struggled lately, Old Lane has lagged behind peers. Hedge funds as a group lost 1.3 percent in August, their worst month in more than a year, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc. Hedge funds have gained 6.2 percent this year through August.
Old Lane was launched early last year by a group of former Morgan Stanley executives, including Vikram Pandit, John Havens and Guru Ramakrishnan. Citigroup agreed in April to buy Old Lane in a deal said to be valued at more than $800 million. At the time, many observers questioned the logic of Citigroup shelling out so much for a largely untested hedge fund, albeit one run by some Wall Street all-stars. Pandit is now chief executive of Citigroup’s alternative-investments unit, and Havens is its president. Ramakrishnan is Old Lane’s CEO.