After weathering media reports of fund losses, Vega Asset Management has issued a letter to investors to set the record straight about their positions. Vega states that at the end of the third quarter, AUM stand around $5 billion, HedgeWorld reports. Though the number is higher than some speculations, it represents nearly a 60% loss in two years, down from $12 billion AUM.

While their prominent macro fund, Vega Select Opportunities Fund, posted YTD losses of 16.68%, the numbers shouldnÍt shock those that followed the group since the fund was -9.2% in 2005. It seems activity shifted directions around 2004, as movement from 2000 to 2003 showed double digit growth. Coming on the heels of the Amaranth disaster, investors are likely to panic, but an insider assured HedgeWorld that a 10% loss in September might be attributable to risk management implementations implemented to prevent disaster. My guess is that they have capped positions. After a certain amount of losses, they had to cut their positions and they did. ThatÍs risk management. In addition, the insider told HedgeWorld that despite layoff speculations, two leading Vega fund managers, Ravi Mehra and Jesus Saa-Requejo, are committed to their positions and have no plans to resign.