Avendus Cap winds down hedge fund; Holland to leave

The two funds have begun returning money to investors, with winding down expected by February

- Ranjani Raghavan

KR-backed Avendus Capital is winding down its hedge funds which will see market veteran Andrew Holland leave the firm, two people with knowledge of the development told Mint, on condition of anonymity.

The two funds, Avendus Absolute Return and Avendus Enhanced Return funds, have already started returning money to their investors and the process of winding down is expected to be completed by February, the first person cited above said. The firm's ambitions for its hedge fund strategy did not achieve scale as envisaged because of tax and regulatory reasons, the person added. Sebi's introduction of the New Asset Class scheme in October also made the strategy harder to sell, the people cited above said.