Poor judgement on currency market forces closure of GAM hedge fund

GAM is among the groups that have closed down hedge funds over the summer following a period of negative portfolio returns. It has liquidated its Persaud Global Currency fund, managed by Avinash Persaud, after it posted unsatisfactory performance. It was down 12.3% since its late-2003 inception. It closed, after redemptions, with $15m in assets. The fund had been afflicted by a number of bad calls in the currency markets. Early this year the manager predicted a dollar-sterling rate of $2.22 against the pound, which went on to defy his expectations, peaked at $1.95 and then fell to $1.73....