Eric Mindich, a former Wall Street wunderkind who was the youngest person ever to make partner at Goldman Sachs, plans to close his $7 billion Eton Park hedge fund, according to a letter to investors.
He founded the firm 13 years ago after working for Goldman, where he became partner at age 27 in 1994.
Eton Park Capital Management's fund fell 10 percent last year, while the S&P 500 rose 12 percent with much of the gain coming after Republican Donald Trump was elected president on a pro-business agenda.
The firm sent out the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, after notifying employees earlier Thursday of the decision to shut down.
"Recently, a combination of industry headwinds, a difficult market environment and, importantly, our own disappointing 2016 results have challenged our ability to continue to maintain the scale and scope we believe necessary to pursue our investment program consistent with our founding principles," Mindich wrote in the letter. "As responsible stewards of your capital, we have been unwilling to compromise on the business model and investment program in which you invested or the way in which we have pursued it."
The closure is the second one in the past six months for a hedge fund founded by a Goldman alumnus. Richard Perry in September shut down his main fund after almost 30 years.
In 2013, Eton Park rolled back its complicated lock-up period for most investors by more than a third. Investors were allowed to withdraw cash in 21 months, down from a three-year lock-up period.
The fund lost 11 percent in 2011, after subpar performance in 2009 and 2010. It gained 22 percent in 2013.
Eton Park returned 9.4 percent annually on average.
That sparked an investor rush toward the exits, according to the New York Post.
Hedge fund closures last year reached 1,057, the most since the 2008 financial crisis, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.
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