Daniel Arbess’ Xerion Fund is Down 19% YTD

Daniel Arbess’ Xerion Fund is down 19% YTD, according to NY Post. Xerion Fund is part of Perella Weinberg. Daniel Arbess manages approximately $3 billion of Perella Weinberg’s $7.5 billion AUM. Here is the background on Arbess:

Mr. Arbess became an investment principal in 1995, first pursuing restructuring-oriented private transactions in Europe, and later managing portfolio workouts and distressed debt investments for Triton Partners.  Mr. Arbess launched Xerion Capital Partners with the backing of Paloma Partners in 2003.  He merged Xerion Capital into Perella Weinberg Partners and became a partner of the firm in 2007.

The Xerion process dynamically integrates top-down macro themes and hedging with bottom-up corporate security selection, using a diverse range of products, instruments and asset classes. This integrated approach has successfully captured many of the defining themes of the recent investment landscape.  After successfully preserving capital in 2008, Mr. Arbess significantly increased long exposure to capture the reflation opportunities created by government policies in 2009; he then reduced net exposure and increased macro hedges again as the benefits of stimulus receded in 2010.

Mr. Arbess received a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, and a Master of Laws from the Harvard Law School.  He is a frequent writer and commentator on investing and global markets.

New York Post reported the following about Daniel Arbess’ Xerion Fund:

The 50-year-old Arbess is in the same boat. He was among the select few to have escaped the financial crisis unscathed. The biggest dent to Xerion’s record since its 2003 launch was a loss of less than 1 percent in 2005.

In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, Xerion was up 0.31 percent, followed by double-digit grand slams every year after.

Arbess is hunkering down as a result, reducing Xerion’s exposure to stocks and cutting back on trading, according to a person familiar with the fund.

In a conference call with investors yesterday, Arbess said that as a result of the recent volatility in the markets, he’s reduced Xerion’s gross and net equity positions by about half, to 44 percent and 23 percent respectively.