AQR’s Global Relative Value Fund To Call It A Day

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:12PM

Well, the last time that hedge fund blowup rumors were swirling around on DealBreaker, it was the Friday before Jerome Kerviel became widely known and Bernanke got up at 4 in the morning to cut 75 bps.

So, going by the past track record of the Bess Levin Rumor Indicator, I can safely predict that Mizuho will discover massive fraud on Monday, Italy will default on its sovereign debt, and Bernanke will go straight to zero.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:14PM

@4:12-- um, it's been reported in fortune...kind of sounds like this rumor as legs.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:16PM

The AQR global relative value is down 18.7% YTD. I had the misfortune of investing some of my 401K in it. could someone tell how many sigmas is that?

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:22PM

you should shoot your plan administrator. Fund like that doesn't belong in a K

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:26PM

How the fuck does a hedge fund end up in a 401(k) plan? That makes no sense at all.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:28PM

I'd like to know this too. None of AQR's funds coming up on my Bloomberg.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:32PM

anyone know how big the fund is?

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 4:38PM

Bull$h!t you had AQR in the 401k. Qualified investors only....

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:04PM

4:38 you should read the article:

"AQR Capital Management to unwind its Global Relative Value Fund after Goldman pulls it from 401(k) lineup."

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:10PM

Okay, so whoever administers Goldman's 401(k) plan needs to be taken out back and shot.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:18PM

Old news... Got the email that it's no longer a 401k option back in March 24. It's good to know it took over a week to filter out to the presses...

And as for guest @5:10PM, I guess you don't have a HF as an options for your 401K? In better years, AQR's fund might have been a viable option.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:19PM

5:10 I take the shot comment back. Goldman has a sophisticated work force and supports the AQR option with good participant education. They may even impose allocation limits. It would be totally wrong to include such a fund in a more typical 401k, where the workforce is less sophisticated and the education bare bones. To further the gun talk - like giving weapons to small children.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:22PM

i know mckinsey has a whole group that sources hedge funds for their retirement plan. the hf option is an internal fund of funds, though, not an individual fund. this hf option was in my retirement portfolio there and i certainly was not a qualified investor when i started.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:27PM

@5:19 - Look, an internal fund of funds as a 401(k) option is not a bad idea at all, but let's not pretend that Goldman employees are, on average, any smarter or more sophisticated than employees at any other large corporation, though they are probably more inclined to believe that they are.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:30PM

5:27 You're wrong there on the level of sophistication at GS, but I'll agree to disagree. Part II though is that Goldman owns Ayco Financial and through them provides very good financial planning to participants. Much different than the boilerplate that you get at most places.

Posted by guest, Apr 03, 2008 5:43PM

it is $30m. a pittance compared to their tens of billions

Posted by guest, Apr 04, 2008 5:01AM

This is a misleading comment. The fund didn't blow up--AQR liquidated Goldman's allocations in the fund, which were actually quite small.