Founder departs top-performing Russia hedge fund

Financial News

Jason Corcoran in Moscow
17 July 2009

Dmitry Kryukov, the co-founder of one of the best long-term performing hedge funds operating in Russia and the former Soviet Union, has left to pursue other projects.

Kazimir Partners, a hedge fund firm with offices in Moscow, London, New York and Baku, was set up by Frank Mosier and Kryukov in 2002 after the pair left the investment bank Renaissance Capital.

Kazimir declined to comment on Kryukov’s departure but a source close to the firm said: “Dmitry wanted to spend more time with his family and to explore other projects. We have a large and deep team so it shouldn’t have any impact on the business.”

The fund was one of one of the few hedge funds to focus on Russia and the former Soviet Union. Its flagship long/short fund, Kazimir Russia, shot up by more than 650% in five years from its inception in 2002.

The Kazimir Russia fund maintained a top ranking amid last year's banking crisis. The fund was rated third in a peer group of 40 Russian and regional investment vehicles for the year to November 28, according to Bloomberg charts.

In 2005, Kazimir acquired the funds business of investment bank Brunswick Capital, which was disposing of assets after entering into a joint venture with Swiss bank UBS.

A number of hedge funds operating in Russia and the former Soviet Union were forced to close or restructure earlier this year following a collapse in the region's equity markets and subsequent client withdrawals.

However, a Kazimir source said the group had not needed to restructure nor seek additional capital.

Kazimir has a Caspian fund which invests in the frontier markets of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Sources close to the firm said the fund had exited positions in Kazakhstan before the country’s banking and construction sectors collapsed.

Kazimir, which has mainly institutional clients, declined to provide its current assets under management which are believed to have been about $1bn (€708,462) a year ago.