The Blackstone Group has pulled the plug on an ambitious plan to launch a $1 billion Asian event-driven hedge fund.
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Blackstone cancelled the fund, which it announced a year ago, in March “after a review of the market environment and our strategic priorities globally,” the firm told Bloomberg News. Blackstone’s hedge fund groups have been retrenching in Asia, and the firm’s GSO Capital Partners closed its desk in the region in January.
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“In this market environment where both capital and people are constrained, it is especially important to be disciplined in where you allocate resources to achieve the greatest return,” spokesman Peter Rose told Bloomberg.
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Blackstone made several high-profile hires for the new hedge fund, dubbed Blackstone A.M.N. Advisors, last year. Most of the 17-member team, including Aaron Nieman, the chief investment officer hired from SAC Capital Advisors, have left the firm.
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A.M.N. raised $150 million from Blackstone and its employees in its first three months, but was forced to scale back its plan to raise $1 billion in the face of a difficult fundraising environment.