Viking hedge fund to return $8 billion to investors

Viking Global Investors, one of the larger hedge funds, is losing a top money manager and getting smaller in the process.

The hedge fund, led by O. Andreas Halvorsen, a protege of famed hedge fund manager Julian Robertson, notified investors Monday that Chief Investment Officer Daniel Sundheim is leaving and that the firm will begin returning some $8 billion to investors, a Viking officer said.

Rose Shabet, chief operating officer at Viking, said Sundheim’s departure from the firm was “amicable.”

Sundheim, who has been with Viking for about 15 years, is leaving to pursue “entrepreneurial” ventures, the firm said in a letter to investors.

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In the letter, the firm added that the decision to return $8 billion reflects a chance to “reset to a smaller size.”

Still, Viking will remain one of the hedge fund industry’s largest firms — managing about $24 billion after it returns that money, a process that should begin in August. The main portfolio at Viking is said to be up this year.

In recent years, many hedge funds have returned money to investors as they have found that managing too much money can hurt performance as it makes firms less nimble.

Halvorsen said in the letter that Sundheim was “in a league of his own as a stock picker.”

Sundheim, who became co-chief investment officer in 2010 and took over the role on a solo basis in 2014, had managed a significant amount of money at the firm. He began managing money for Viking more than a decade ago.

Matthew Goldstein is a New York Times writer.