The firm issued its statement during what has generally been a poor period for hedge funds. Hedge Fund Research says that hedge funds have dropped by an average of 15.5 per cent between January and the end of October, according to the weighted composite index compiled by the US company.

GLG said the decline in net assets under management in the three months leading to 30 September was “roughly half performance driven with the remaining portion, $3.3 billion, due to $1.3 billion of redemptions from the Emerging Market funds, $0.9 billion of redemptions in other GLG funds and $1.1 billion from the impact of the dollar strengthening”.

Gross assets under management, including assets invested from other GLG managed funds, were $21.2 billion at 30 September 2008, a fall of 24.2 per cent from 30 June 2008 and down 10.3 per cent from 30 September last year, GLG said.

The loss attributable to common stockholders was $167.1 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2008 and $487 million for the first nine months of the 2008 financial year. 

GLG also said an initial investment mandate of approximately $1.6 billion from the asset management division of Italian private bank Banca Fideuram was funded in October.  The sum originally announced in May had been $3 billion.  GLG attributed the difference to “the effect of market depreciation and the strengthening of the dollar on the predecessor long-only portfolios that were the source of the capital underlying the mandate”.

Last week, GLG said it had suspended redemptions from its Credit and Market Neutral funds due to “adverse economic and fiscal changes.”  The firm also said that it would convene an extraordinary meeting of its shareholders to consider the termination of the Credit fund.