Two years of losses at Lijaro Asset Management has prompted Founder Stephen Irving, who left Balyasny Asset Management to start the long-short equity hedge fund about four years ago, to return money to investors, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report cites an investor document seen by Bloomberg as confirming the decision, which comes after assets at the firm have fallen from more than $600m in 2022 to around $207m at the end of January.

The firm started returning money on 31 March, after telling investors: “Given the reduction of assets under management of the Lijaro Funds and the prospects for raising further capital, it has been determined that the investment program of the Lijaro Funds is no longer viable.”

Lijaro joins a growing number of single-strategy funds to shut up shop as investors are drawn to large multi-strategy firms and their relatively stable and diversified returns. According to HFR data, more than 3,000 hedge finds have now shuttered in the past five years.

Irvine led Balyasny’s London office until 2019. He started trading for his own hedge fund focused on the industrial and cyclical sectors the following year.