Investment manager Pengana has closed its Australian equities long short fund, after the fund's assets under management (AUM) had become too small to run the fund profitably.
The fund's two portfolio managers Stephen Goldberg and John Parker have left Pengana.
Alexander Harris, who supported the two managers, continues to work at Pengana as an assistant analyst.
"The guys decided they wanted to do something else," Pengana head of distribution Denis Carroll said.
"The economics made it difficult to run the fund," he said.
The managers made the decision to close the fund in February of this year, and started to wind down their positions.
The fund had $6.8 million in AUM at the time.
"Some clients have moved to our Australian equities core fund, which is managed by Rhett Kessler, and others have cashed in," Carroll said.
He estimated that about a third of the AUM has moved to the core fund.
The Australian equities long short fund was established after Pengana acquired the Saltbush absolute return fund in March 2008.
The fund was originally established in May 2004 and generated annualised returns of more than 17 per cent until the financial crisis hit.
In 2008, the fund experienced its first year of negative returns, losing 32.8 per cent.
Although it produced a positive return of 40.1 per cent in 2009, the fund has not been able to attract significant new investments.
