Anthony Scaramucci’s investment firm, SkyBridge Capital, is currently facing an exodus of investors amid the current market downturn.
According to a recent report by The New York Times, investors who had positions in SkyBridge’s flagship fund, the SkyBridge Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios, are clamoring to get their funds back.
SkyBridge Investors Demanding Withdrawals
As of March 2022, the fund held more than $2 billion in assets under management (AUM). However, the latest crypto market crash had a significant impact on its performance, causing it to lose nearly a quarter of the value of its investments in Q2.
Per the report, investors are demanding to withdraw about half of the assets in the funds as of last month, which currently amounts to $890 million. But a slew of SkyBridge investors will be unable to withdraw their money.
The report noted that the Multi-Adviser fund initially gave investors four windows to withdraw their assets each year. However, SkyBridge reduced them to twice a year in 2020, following the market crash induced by the COVID pandemic. Notably, SkyBridge caps the total withdrawals during each window.
In a letter sent to investors earlier this month, the firm noted that its current redemption window had been oversubscribed; thus, they would collectively receive only 16% of the amount they demanded. SkyBridge added that it intends to pay investors before the end of October.
Meanwhile, a few days ago, the company suspended withdrawals from one of its smaller funds, dubbed Legion Strategies, which has a little over $200 million in AUM.
Scaramucci Remains a Firm Believer in Crypto
Scaramucci said he remains a firm believer in the potential of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies despite crashing crypto prices. He revealed that approximately 22% of his flagship fund remained in crypto and related investments as of June 2022.
Still, the SkyBridge founder pointed out that he cannot accurately predict market movements. “I am not smart enough to time the market. But we’ve done a tremendous amount of research, and we think anyone who has will see that blockchain technology is good and is the future,” he said.
