Samlyn Cuts Staff as Hedge Fund Focuses on Financials

Samlyn Capital has sold equity holdings across most sectors outside global financials and is cutting senior investment staff as it narrows its strategy after a difficult year.

The New York-based firm has exited positions in industries including technology, industrials and retail. It plans to retain analysts who cover financial companies and dismiss senior staff focused on other sectors.

Samlyn made the portfolio changes several weeks before a later market selloff that caused losses across the hedge fund industry. The firm was down about 5% for the year through October, according to people familiar with its performance.

Samlyn is not returning capital to investors. It plans to reinvest proceeds from the sales in financial equities or hold the money in cash for future investments.

The restructuring will leave founder Rob Pohly as the firm’s sole portfolio manager. Pohly has focused on financial stocks for much of his investment career and will lead Samlyn’s more concentrated strategy.

Pohly founded Samlyn in 2007 after working at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management and Sigma, an affiliate of Steve Cohen’s former hedge fund SAC Capital. The restructuring follows changes by other hedge funds after sharp market reversals in October prompted managers to reduce risk, alter investment teams and reconsider sector allocations.