A founding partner at struggling hedge fund Tourbillon has resigned

Milken Institute

Jason Karp, founder of Tourbillon

• A founding partner of Tourbillon Capital Partners has resigned.
• Amy Zipper, the chief operating officer and president, left last week, people familiar with the matter said.
• Tourbillon's assets have significantly dropped while the fund has underperformed.

A founding partner has resigned from struggling hedge fund Tourbillon Capital Partners after six years at the firm.

Amy Zipper, chief operating officer and president at Tourbillon Capital, left last week, several people familiar with the matter said.

Before Tourbillon, Zipper worked at Carlson Capital in business development, according to her LinkedIn page. Tourbillon founder Jason Karp was previously co-chief investment officer at Carlson.

Tourbillon, which launched to much fanfare in 2013 and raised significant capital at the time, has struggled to perform in recent years.

A person close to the firm told Business Insider that the fund was down 1.4% from the beginning of 2018 through the end of May. That compares to a 3% uptick in the S&P 500 during the same period.

The flagship fund dropped 13.8% in 2017 and 9.2% in 2016. It gained 10.8% in 2015. The fund posted a 10.1% return in 2014, following a rise of 21% in 2013, according to a report in trade publication Absolute Return.

Assets now stand at about half of what they were in February 2017.

The firm managed about $3.7 billion as of February 2017. At the end of May, assets stood at around $2 billion, according to the person close to the firm.

A big drop occurred from March to April this year, when assets fell 20%, according to client documents viewed by Business Insider.