Larry “L-Train” Robbins is the latest one-time hedge-fund highflier to wield the ax amid faltering performance and a drop in assets.
In an effort to cut costs, Robbins’ New York hedge-fund firm, Glenview Capital, laid off about a dozen of its 85-member staff last week as it struggles with performance losses this year, The Post has learned.
The firm has also warned staffers to expect a reduction in overall compensation next year, sources said.
While base salaries will remain untouched, performance-based pay for the investment team could be watered down as the company struggles to deal with a 50 percent drop in assets, people said.
Glenview, which rose to a whopping $9 billion in assets at its peak, has joined the growing ranks of former superstar hedge funds that are being forced to scale back in a difficult investment climate.
Hedge funds profit through fees paid by investors, usually 2 percent of assets under management and 20 percent of profits.
In the current environment, in which the average hedge fund is down 20 percent or more, hedge funds are being forced to get by on just the paltry 2 percent management fee, which is adding up to less as asset values sink.
Glenview officials declined to comment, but a person close to the firm said last Friday’s layoffs impacted mostly mid- to low-level employees, including back-office workers and administrative assistants. It hit just a handful of traders and analysts, people said.
Glenview’s consolidation efforts echo moves by peers such as New York hedge-fund mogul Richard Perry, whose Perry Capital Management earlier this year cut between 20 and 30 employees.
Chicago powerhouse Citadel Investment Group earlier this said month it plans to close its Tokyo office and cut 37 jobs from its Asian operations. The layoffs came as the investment firm, founded by billionaire Ken Griffin in 1990, suffered losses of close to 50 percent in its two main hedge funds. kaja.whitehouse@nypost.com