U.S. hedge fund losses seen adding up

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - For hedge funds the last weeks of summer have been anything but lazy or dull as market turbulence left many of the industry's most prominent funds nursing losses this month, investors and analysts said.

As the end of August draws near, investors and analysts are bracing for the year's first monthly loss for the U.S. hedge fund industry as a whole, likely shriveling an otherwise strong year.

"This month looks pretty grim," said Christopher Holt, managing director of Holt Capital Advisors, which helps investors put money into hedge funds.

The loosely regulated investment portfolios often promise to make money in all market conditions, through techniques like borrowing money and betting on stocks falling, strategies that are off-limits for most mutual funds.

While hedge funds were once limited to wealthy individuals, pension funds and other institutional investors have become active investors as they seek to boost their returns.

Tudor Investment Corp.'s $8.5 billion (4.2 billion pound) Raptor Fund, which concentrates on buying and selling stocks and has boasted annual double-digit returns since its launch, lost 5.5 percent through last Friday, a person familiar with the fund's numbers said. Losses at the Tudor BVI Global Fund were even wider, standing at 6 percent through August 22, the person added.

A spokesman for the funds declined to comment.

A week ago D.E. Shaw's Composite International Fund was down 7 percent through August 17. A spokesman declined to comment. Cantillon Capital Management's Pacific Fund, launched several years ago by William von Mueffling, lost 9 percent through August 17, another person familiar with the numbers said.