Marshall Wace is planning to return roughly $3.1bn to investors across two of its flagship hedge fund strategies, joining a growing list of major managers choosing to curb asset growth to protect performance, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites an unnamed person familiar with the matter as revealing that the capital return – expected in January –will reduce firm-wide assets to around $75bn. The bulk of the outflows will come from the multi-strategy Eureka fund, while approximately $765m will be withdrawn from the hedge fund sleeve of TOPS, Marshall Wace’s quant and systematic platform.
The decision comes as the industry’s largest managers continue to attract substantial inflows even as broader hedge fund fundraising remains subdued. However, for capacity-sensitive strategies – particularly those trading in less liquid markets or highly competitive equity and credit niches – size can impede returns. As a result, several top-tier managers have opted to return capital rather than absorb additional assets.
Marshall Wace’s move follows similar steps taken this year by Rokos Capital Management, Point72 Asset Management and Citadel, all of which have returned investor capital to maintain portfolio flexibility and trading efficiency.
