Hong Kong-based DragonBack Capital, a multi-strategy hedge fund, has decided to re-position itself as a hedge fund platform having liquidated its two hedge funds, reports FinAlternatives this week. It’s been a tough 18 months for DragonBack. Back in April, Reuters reported that over the space of twelve months its assets had dropped 85 per cent to USD45 million as investors sought redemptions; at its zenith in October 2008, the fund was managing USD600 million. Consequently, remaining assets in its Asia Pacific Multi-strategy and VolAsia funds were returned last month and shut down. Also heading out of the door is DragonBack’s investment team, which includes co-founder and CIO, Matthew Barnett. CEO Robert Lance, who was quoted in Reuters in April as saying “The AUM gods giveth and they taketh away,” is sticking to his philosophical guns by re-launching as DragonBack Management Platform with remaining co-founder, Philip Tye. Lance hopes to attract managers to the platform, at a time when, admittedly, market conditions are challenging, but speaking to Hedgeweek, Lance intimated that, whilst it’s still early days, response to the platform has been good and “the signs are encouraging.” “The platform has gone live,” says Lance, “and we’re in the process of talking to new and existing managers. At this stage it’s very much personality dependent – we’re being careful because these are partnerships we’re forming.”