This billionaire NHL team owner is shutting down hedge fund
Billionaire money manager Jeffrey Vinik said he’s shutting down his hedge fund again.
On Wednesday, The stock picker said he was closing his fund less than eight months after starting it due to difficulties attracting investors’ cash, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Vinik previously ran Fidelity’s flagship Magellan Fund. His own company, Vinik Asset Management, shut down shortly after he moved to Tampa, Fla., in 2012. In January, Vinik announced that he was bringing back his fund, which had once managed $10 billion. He said he planned to run the fund for five years.
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 26: Owner Jeff Vinik of the Tampa Bay Lightning speaks at the podium during NHL All-Star luncheon at the Tampa Aquarium on January 26, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
The second fund gained a net 4.8 percent this year, Reuters reported. But Vinik said he had a hard time bringing in fresh capital despite its success, according to the report.
“I thought I could have 30 to 40 meetings in New York and fly home with commitments for $3 billion, but there is no sign of new money coming in,” he told Reuters.
While Vinik Asset Management drew $800 million on its first day when it launched in 1996, Vinik’s hedgefund only raised $465 million by March 1, according to the report.
Vinik has kept himself busy in the time since he shut down his original fund. He owns the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. He has also partnered with Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC, to work on commercial real estate development in downtown Tampa.