Despite assurances to the contrary, a segment of hedge funds still has as much as $100 billion locked up and won’t allow redemptions. Most hedge fund managers that stopped all redemptions or put illiquid assets into emergency side pockets in 2008 and 2009 told investors they needed two to three years to clear their portfolios so they wouldn’t have to sell hard-to-value assets at fire-sale prices.
Industry observers said time’s up for hedge fund managers that aren’t finished liquidating their portfolios and honoring redemption requests. Most hedge funds that had liquidity problems “have gotten to the point where 95% to 99% of their portfolios are cleaned up,” said a hedge fund-of-funds manager who asked for anonymity. “There are these small dregs left in their portfolios, hedge fund rumps that don’t go away, that you don’t forget about, that are distracting and annoying, but which aren’t headline news.”
