CNN – After a year of losses, the exodus of investors from hedge funds hasn’t been as great as many expected. In the case of Eric Mindich’s $12 billion Eton Park Capital Management — which fell about 11% last year — that’s because try as they might, investors still have a hard time taking their money out.
Hedge funds loosened their terms after the carnage of 2008 alerted investors to the fact that funds weren’t required to return the investors’ cash just because they wanted it back. But Eton Park’s terms remain among the most onerous in the hedge fund world. And since its investors have hardly made a dime over the past three years, some are starting to bail. Net redemptions last year reached about 5% of fund assets, or around $700 million.
