Jeffrey Vinik to close hedge-fund: WSJ

Hedge-fund manager Jeffrey Vinik plans to close Vinik Asset Management after poor performance that coincided with several changes at the firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Vinik plans to return several billion dollars to outside investors at the end of June, the newspaper reported. (http://r.reuters.com/ped87t)

Vinik, who also owns the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, rose to prominence at the helm of Fidelity Investments' Magellan fund in the 1990s.

"After a great deal of consideration, we have made the difficult decision to return our investors' funds," the newspaper quoted Vinik as saying in a letter to investors on Friday.

Some of the investment staff of the hedge fund, which largely bets on and against stocks, will start separate firms, the newspaper reported.

(Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore)