Frustrated by the market chatter about its health, battered hedge-fund firm Atticus has decided to give the market the silent treatment.
The $14 billion fund – which last week quelled rumors that it was liquidating – plans to “suspend indefinitely the reporting of mid-month performance estimates,” it said in a Sept. 4 letter to investors.
“Some investors have, unfortunately, chosen to immediately deliver both performance figures and data reports to journalists,” said the letter, which was signed by portfolio managers Tim Barakett and David Slager.
“Among other things, these breaches have been the direct cause of recent, false market rumors regarding the funds.”
Atticus officials declined to comment, but a person close to the firm said Atticus will continue to provide end-of-the-month performance figures.
Chatter about an impending liquidation followed news that Atticus’ two main hedge funds had been hit with losses of between 25 percent and 32 percent this year through August.
Investors have been jittery about the likelihood of hedge-fund closures following tumultuous markets in July and August, when a rocky period caught even the best-performing hedge funds off guard.
Hedge fund firm Ospraie Management, for example, announced last week plans to close its flagship fund following a sudden drop of 27 percent in August.
Ospraie, which focuses on commodities, was pummeled by see-sawing commodity prices, and other energy funds are expected to follow.
Atticus insists its investors are standing behind the firm, despite the poor performance.
In the same letter, it said redemption requests across all funds for the quarter ended Sept. 30 are so far just 10 percent of assets.
“In these unprecedented market conditions, we are grateful for the level of support our investors have shown us,” the letter said.
The firm also assured investors that it’s equipped to handle any future redemption requests.
Atticus has enough in liquid assets “to handle current redemption requests and all foreseeable future redemptions,” the hedge fund’s letter stated.