Still Alive With Five HFs In Charlotte

Charlotte, N.C. – hardly a hedge fund hotspot – is down two HFs in as many months. In early June, Cambium Capital Management announced it is shutting its doors, and now Mangan & McColl Partners expects to follow suit at the end of this month. The reason, according to a statement, is a “reduced number of attractive investment opportunities in area of our focus” –namely, mergers and special-situations arbitrage. The M&M closure was no surprise, reports the Charlotte Business Journal, following NASD charges against founder John Mangan, which he settled without admitting or denying the allegations. A firm spokeswoman said the decision to close had nothing to do with the NASD case. The CBJ reports, however, that Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicate that M&M has been bleeding assets since the end of 2004, when it had around $1 billion, falling to around $461 million a year later, and $389 million at the end of the first quarter. The losses, reports the CBJ, citing a reports by Cambridge Associates for Purdue University, blamed the asset reflux to an “inherent volatility” of M&M’s approach, and a major turnover of analysts. The demise of M&M leaves Charlotte with about five active hedge funds.