Through June, the Fortress macro fund was down 3.6 percent after fees, while the Drawbridge global macro fund declined 4.4 percent.
Through October, the Fortress macro fund was down 9.4 percent after fees, while the Drawbridge global macro fund had declined 10.3 percent.
Shares in the fund, which invests solely in Brevan Howard's flagship global macro fund, are up 40percentt since their debut a year ago and have consistently traded at a healthy premium to net asset value.
Although the stock price had escalated to $35 at its IPO, by December 3, 2008, it dipped to as low as $1.87 after withdrawals from Novogratz' Drawbridge Global Macro fund were shut off.
The firm's macro hedge funds posted a gain of 6 percent for the quarter and 17.8 percent for the year, while its Asia macro funds were up 9.5 percent for the quarter and 21.2 percent for the year.
If a country's economic policies look inconsistent, and its ability to sustain its exchange rate is questionable, the funds take a bet on devaluation, usually by selling the currency short.The IMF researchers, led by Barry Eichengreen and Donald Mathieson, find that these "macro funds" are not to blame for currency crises.
Yesterday, Mr. Soros was questioning whether the vicissitudes of the modern market were transforming the hedge fund industry in ways that made it less practical to run a so-called macro fund, which is free to use a wide variety of financial instruments in any area of the world.
The macro funds have been eclipsed by a core of smaller, more nimble funds that focus on specific sectors, or by larger firms that offer collections of smaller funds.
"Investors see macro as a hedge to the world shifting," reckons Mr Novogratz, who oversees his firm's macro funds.That enthusiasm means other kinds of hedge fund are busy buffing up their expertise in macro.
Novogratz's hedge fund was to focus on macro trading on a worldwide scale.
