Sowood Capital is a Boston-based hedge fund that lost 50% of its capital in the credit market turmoil of July 2007. Jeffrey Larson, the founder, worked for 12 years at the Harvard Management Company, the organization responsible for managing some of the business affairs of Harvard University. Harvard had seeded Larson with $500 million. Losses from the collapse were about $1.5 billion. Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel LLC bought out Sowood's position and made huge profits as the markets recovered. [1]
One reporter wrote Sowood Capital "lost roughly half of its $3 billion in capital in less than a month, becoming the first high-profile victim (sic) of the credit market crisis". [2]
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.
D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. is a multinational investment management firm founded in 1988 by David E. Shaw and based in New York City. The company is known for developing complicated mathematical models and sophisticated computer programs to exploit anomalies in the financial market. As of June 1, 2021, D. E. Shaw manages $55 billion in AUM, $35 billion of which are alternative investments and the remaining $20 billion long-oriented investments.
Bridgewater Associates, LP is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. As of 2022, Bridgewater has posted the second highest gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1975. The firm began as an institutional investment advisory service, graduated to institutional investing, and pioneered the risk parity investment approach in 1996.
Kenneth Cordele Griffin is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder, chief executive officer, co-chief investment officer, and 80% owner of Citadel LLC, a multinational hedge fund. He also owns Citadel Securities, one of the largest market makers in the U.S.
Man Group plc is an active investment management business listed on the London Stock Exchange. It provides investment funds in liquid and private markets for institutional and private investors. It is the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund company, reporting $161.2 billion in funds under management as of September 2023. The firm is headquartered at Riverbank House in London and employs over 1,600 people in various locations. The company was a sponsor of the Man Booker Prize from 2002 to 2019.
Citadel LLC is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Ken Griffin, it has more than $62 billion in assets under management as of December 2022. The company has over 2,600 employees, with corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Founder, CEO and Co-CIO Griffin owns approximately 85% of the firm. As of December 2022, Citadel is the most successful hedge fund of all time, posting $65.9 billion in net gains since inception in 1990.
In finance, the private-equity secondary market refers to the buying and selling of pre-existing investor commitments to private-equity and other alternative investment funds. Given the absence of established trading markets for these interests, the transfer of interests in private-equity funds as well as hedge funds can be more complex and labor-intensive.
Michael W. Vranos is an American hedge fund manager and philanthropist who in the 1990s was referred to by some as the "most powerful man on Wall Street." In 1993, he reportedly earned $15 million from trading mortgage bonds. Fortune Magazine once called him "one of the best bond traders on Wall Street." According to a 2007 Wall Street Journal article, he has continued to be regarded as "the best-known mortgage-bond trader on Wall Street."
Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. is an American multi-strategy hedge fund headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded by Tom Steyer in 1986, the firm employs approximately 230 professionals in eight countries around the world.
Sculptor Capital Management is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world.
Blackstone Credit, formerly known as GSO Capital Partners (GSO) is an American hedge fund and the credit investment arm of The Blackstone Group. Blackstone Credit is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant in the leveraged finance marketplace. The firm invests across a variety of credit oriented strategies and products including collateralized loan obligation vehicles investing in secured loans, hedge funds focused on special situations investments, mezzanine debt funds and private equity funds focused on rescue financing.
Brevan Howard is a European hedge fund management company based in Jersey with its funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Brevan Howard was founded in 2002 by Alan Howard, alongside four other co-founders including Chris Rokos, and is widely considered to be one of the top global macro hedge funds.
Magnetar Capital is a hedge fund based in Evanston, Illinois. The firm was founded in 2005 and invests in fixed-income, energy, quantitative, and event-driven strategies. The firm was actively involved in the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market during the 2006–2007 period. In some articles critical of Magnetar Capital, the firm's arbitrage strategy for CDOs is described as the "Magnetar trade".
Clifford Scott Asness is an American hedge fund manager and the co-founder of AQR Capital Management. According to an April 2020 Forbes profile, Asness' estimated net worth was $2.6 billion.
Millennium Management is an investment management firm with a multistrategy hedge fund offering. In 2023, it was one of the world's largest alternative asset management firms with over $58.9 billion assets under management as of June 2023. The firm operates in America, Europe and Asia. As of 2022, Millennium had posted the fourth highest net gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1989.
Element Capital Management is an American hedge fund using a global macroeconomic investment strategy, founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Talpins.
Ellington Management Group is a multi-billion dollar hedge fund operation. As of June 2019, the firm was reportedly managing $8.5 billion in structured products and other credit instruments.
Melvin Capital Management LP was an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, who named the firm after his late grandfather.
Tiger Global Management, LLC is an American investment firm founded by Chase Coleman III, a former Tiger Management employee under Julian Robertson, in March 2001. It mainly focuses on internet, software, consumer, and financial technology companies.
Dymon Asia is an Asia-focused investment management firm based in Singapore. It is considered one of the largest hedge funds in Singapore and Asia.