Investors in a hedge fund run by one of the sector’s biggest hitters have reacted angrily after it was put into liquidation by the managers, leaving them to pay the winding-up costs, according to The Times (of London).

J O Hambro Capital Management, the investment boutique, wrote to investors this month to say that it was putting the Trident North Atlantic Fund into liquidation with immediate effect. The fund, incorporated in the Cayman Islands, specialised in investing in mid and small-cap companies in the UK, Europe and the US.

The story highlights how the hedge fund industry continues to suffer problems, despite it having had generally positive returns so far since the start of 2009, contrasting with the losses averaging about 19 to 20 per cent in 2008, according to different measures of performance. Last year was the worst performance year on record for the industry, triggering a flood of client redemptions.

The Trident fund had more than £235 million of assets at one point and was run by Christopher Mills, a founding partner of J O Hambro Capital Management, who has worked as a fund manager for 34 years, the report said.

Other directors of the fund included Basil Postan, also of J O Hambro Capital Management, and David Sargison.

However, the funds under management are believed to have shrivelled to less than £20 million, the newspaper said. Investors have received a letter informing them that the fund has been put into “voluntary liquidation with immediate effect”.