Moore Capital Management cut 10 to 15 investment jobs as the $15 billion hedge fund restructures one of its equity teams, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The portfolio managers and research analysts were let go on Sept. 11, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Patrick Clifford, a spokesman for Moore, declined to comment.
Moore Capital founder Louis Moore Bacon hired his older brother, Zack Hampton Bacon III, in February to oversee strategic planning, a person briefed on the matter said that month. Louis Moore Bacon told clients last month that he planned to return $2 billion, or about 25 percent of his main fund, to investors, saying it might be too big for him to generate returns in line with historic profits as “liquidity and opportunities have become more constrained.”
Moore Capital, which Mr. Bacon founded in 1989, had 208 employees involved in investment-advisory roles, including research, according to a regulatory filing in March. The firm had 426 workers, excluding clerical staff.
Moore Global Investments fund returned about 0.8% this year through August, according to investors. The fund follows a macro strategy that seeks to profit from broad economic trends by trading everything from bonds to currencies. Such funds lost an average of 0.6%, while the hedge fund industry gained 2.6%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 climbed 12% during the first eight months of 2012 while the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 9%.
