Before 2018, the financials-focused hedge fund, Gator Financial Partners had only lost money for investors after fees in three of the nine years it has been in operation.
Until 2015, 2008 was the worst year on record for the $46 million fund. Between July 2008, when the firm first started trading, and the end of the year, it lost -15.3%. Thanks to a rebound in the value of financial stocks, Gator’s specialty, the hedge fund surged back in 2009 returning 186% net of all fees to investors. The positive trend continued until 2014. It reported a small loss of -1% and then bank volatility in 2015 cost the firm’s investors -18.6%, according to investor correspondence reviewed by ValueWalk.