Five-year-old London-based activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners is shutting down after struggling to grow its investor base and is now returning capital to its external investors, according to the Financial Times, citing co-founder Marco Taricco.
Despite making waves launching activist campaigns at companies including BP, Richemont and GSK, Tarrico said that the commingled fund was too small, failing to scale beyond €100m and €200m in assets.
Despite its capital-raising challenges, the fund has reportedly delivered annualised returns of about 8%.
Though closing the fund, Bluebell plans to continue its activist bets through co-investments and advisory roles, leveraging its expertise without the structure of a pooled hedge fund.
Bluebell Capital Partners started as Bluebell Partners, an advisory firm founded in 2014 by Taricco and Giuseppe Bivona. Initially, the firm provided investment ideas to prominent activist investors like Elliott Management and Jana Partners, often co-investing alongside these partners and negotiating profit-sharing agreements.
In 2019, Bluebell evolved into a hedge fund, co-founded with Francesco Trapani, the former CEO of Italian jeweller Bvlgari. The fund concentrated on activist strategies targeting medium to large companies, taking small financial stakes while collaborating with larger players to amplify its influence.
Earlier this year, Bluebell urged BP to abandon plans to reduce oil and gas production and called for other strategic changes as part of its clean energy transition. It also joined other shareholders in pressuring Reckitt, a FTSE 100 consumer group, to separate its hygiene and health divisions from its nutrition business.
