The announcement came in a letter to shareholders after lackluster returns.

John Lykouretzos will shutter Hoplite Capital and return capital to investors.

The hedge fund manager addressed his decision in a letter to shareholders this week.

“I have decided to close the Hoplite managed funds and return third-party capital as soon as possible,” he wrote.

The announcement follows a string of other closings and strategy shifts across the hedge fund space. Last October, Tourbillon Capital Partners shuttered its doors. Meanwhile, Highfields Capital Management and Omega Advisors both informed clients they will convert to family offices and stop taking new investor capital.

Finally, Switzerland based quantitative hedge fund Amplitude Capital AG also announced earlier this year it will shut its doors.

Why Hoplite Capital Folded

Lykouretzos said in a note his firm could not “maintain the capital duration required to successfully implement our stock-picking strategy without distraction. Last December, the 16-year-old firm, reported had $1 billion in assets, according to regulatory filings.

Lykouretzos departed Viking Global Investors in 2003 at 29 years old to start his own business. The firm survived several bouts of significant volatility, Lykouretzos highlighted. These events included the 2008 financial crisis, the 2011 European crisis, the 2015 China tantrum, and last Decembers rate tantrum over the Federal Reserve’s guidance. In 2018, Hoplite’s return to investors was flat, while the S&P 500 fell 5% (largely due to the December selloff).

For 2019, Hoplite returned 7.3% net for fees through July. That trailed the S&P.

What’s Next for John Lykouretzos?

Lykouretzos said he will now work to find his employees new opportunities while returning the bulk of investor capital by early September. According to WhaleWisdom, Hoplite had six primary clients and $1.044 billion in AUM at the end of Q1 2019. Its top 10 holdings represented more than 60% of their portfolio. Its primary positions were in Consumer Cyclicals, Consumer Non-Cyclicals, and Healthcare, according to its Q1 13-F.