Clint Carlson's hedge fund assets drop $1 billion in five months after brutal performance
- Carlson Capital's hedge fund assets dropped by $1 billion in five months.
- The firm's Black Diamond Thematic fund lost 22.1% last year, with assets dropping more than $300 million from August to December.
Assets at Clint Carlson's investment firm have dropped by nearly $1 billion in five months, client documents show.
The Dallas-based hedge fund managed $8.2 billion firmwide at the start of 2018, down from $9.1 billion in August 2017, according to documents seen by Business Insider. The drop was exclusively a result of a decline in hedge fund assets, with that business seeing assets fall from $7.6 billion to $6.6 billion. Carlson Capital's collateralized loan obligation business in contrast saw a small increase in assets, now up to $1.6 billion.
More than $300 million of the decline in hedge fund assets can be attributed to Carlson's Black Diamond Thematic fund. On August 1, 2017, that fund managed $1.2 billion, per client documents. The fund managed $854 million as of the start of this year.
That fund was the firm's worst performer last year, falling 22.1% after fees, adding on to losses sustained earlier in 2017.
Carlson's flagship multistrategy funds also lost money last year, losing -4.47% (Double Black Diamond, LP, $2.2 billion) and -5.99% (Black Diamond Partners, LP, $499 million), after fees.
Hedge funds on average posted gains last year while the stock market rallied, meanwhile. The HFR Fund Weighted Composite Index gained 8.5% in 2017. The S&P 500 was up 21.8%.
The firm's other strategies posted net gains, meanwhile:
- Black Diamond Relative Value Partners LP: +1.45%, with $307.5 million in assets
- Black Diamond Arbitrage Partners, LP: +6.85%, with $86.5 million in assets
An external spokesperson for Carlson declined to comment.