Lehman hedge funds took hits in Q1, but recovering

NEW YORK: Eight hedge funds managed by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc took hits in the first quarter of 2008 amid market turbulence, but now appear to be recovering, the bank told investors in May. Lehman operates a number of hedge funds, both under its LibertyView Capital Management unit and in other parts its investment management division, which has some $277 billion in assets. The eight funds listed below hold about $2.5 billion in assets in aggregate across various strategies.

Of the eight, the top performer was its Satori Technology Fund, which was up 8.04 percent in April, but the gains still left it down 2.45 percent in the year through April, according to an investor communication obtained by Reuters. Satori is a long-short technology fund managed by Dan Niles, CEO of Lehman's Neuberger Berman Technology Management unit. The worst performer of the group was LibertyView Leverage Plus Fund, which was up 1.83 percent in April but still down 10.24 percent in the year through April.

May numbers could not be obtained, but one person familiar with the operation said all eight funds generated positive returns last month. Individual fund assets under management could not be obtained. Lehman has about $39 billion in alternative assets, including hedge, private equity and real estate funds. Lehman declined to comment. The following represents performance results for the eight hedge funds.