The four funds – whose names were kept secret in a UK High Court ruling this week – claimed that they were likely to close in mid-December if they failed to get access to information about their assets frozen at Lehman. The funds made an unsuccessful effort to force the administrators of Lehman, four PricewaterhouseCoopers partners, to give them details of their assets and how much they owe to ­Lehman.

The bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers has sent shockwaves through the wealth management industry as investors who used the Wall Street firm as a platform to trade their assets could be left empty-handed.

A large shareholder in UBS, the UK investment firm Olivant, still has not been able to recover its stake in the Zurich-listed bank as a result of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the US investment firm that acted as a temporary holder of thousands of firms’ shares.

In its report, the FT said the four hedge funds are likely to be followed by “numerous” others of the 1,000 former clients of the Lehman prime brokerage, Lehman Brothers International ( Europe), according to PwC.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Blackburne said the funds argued that, if they could not get information on their assets by mid-December, “it is likely that the funds will be wound down forthwith.” As well as job losses, “the funds’ inability to engage in restructuring will probably lead to the collapse of at least four companies in which securities are held.”