Fortress to Close Commodities Fund After 13% Decline

Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG), the first publicly traded private-equity and hedge fund manager in the U.S., said it will close its commodities fund on or around May 23 and return the money to investors after losing almost 13 percent in the past four months.

Fortress Commodities Fund LP declined 4.2 percent in April and fell 13 percent since the start of the year through April 30, New York-based Fortress said in a May 8 regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The fund, started in 2008, invests in energy, metals, grains, freight and emissions, according to Fortress’s website. It had $1.1 billion under management at its start and $500 million as of last quarter.

Fortress last week reported first-quarter profit of $57 million, down 45 percent from a year earlier. The decline was driven by lower management fees and incentive income. The stock has declined 81 percent since the firm’s 2007 initial offering and gained 1.5 percent this year before today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Devin Banerjee in New York at dbanerjee2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net