Performance update.

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According to Absolute Return, despite not cracking the Top 5 places for hedge fund hiring (NYC, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Stamford/Greenwich/Westport), “hiring patterns indicate that Minnesota is the new up-and-comer hedge fund state, with a fistful of firms actively luring strong senior talent.” [AR]

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Break out the bubble wrap.

SAC Capital will be closing its Chicago office at the end of the year. The news isn’t much of a big deal, as the Illinois outpost only has about 10 employees working there, some of whom will be redistributed at other SAC locations. The hedge fund set up the Chicago presence just over two years ago, but apparently it didn’t quite take, with staff often traveling to the Stamford headquarters and things “never really taking off” out there.

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For those size queens out there, Institutional Investor has compiled the 2011 rankings.

25. ESL Investments ($14.0 billion)
23. Moore Capital ($15.0 billion)
23. Appaloosa Management ($15.0 billion)
22. Davidson Kempner Capital ($15.3 billion)
21. DE Shaw ($15.6 billion)
20 Landsdowne Partners ($16.146 billion)
19. AQR Capital ($16.7 billion)
18. Elliott Management ($16.8 billion)
17. Renaissance Technologies ($17.0 billion)
16. Winton Capital Management ($17.78 billion)
15. Avenue Capital ($18.3 billion)
14. Goldman Sachs Asset Management ($19.8 billion)
13. King Street Capital (($19.9 billion)
12. Farallon Capital ($21.5 billion)
11. Baupost Group ($23.4 billion)

10. Angelo, Gordon, & Co ($23.6 billion)
9. BlueCrest Capital Management ($24.5 billion)
8. BlackRock ($25.0 billion)
7. Och-Ziff Capital Management ($27.6 billion)
6. Soros Fund Management ($27.9 billion)
5. Brevan Howard ($32.0 billion)
4. Paulson & Co ($35.887 billion)
3. Man Investments ($40.6 billion)
2. JPMorgan Asset Mangagement ($54.2 billion)
1. Bridgewater Associates ($58.9 billion)

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According to CNBC’s Kate Kelly, BH made the decision to close the $600 million fund after portfolio manager Fabrizio Gallo left to join Bank of America (which has got to hurt) and investors were rumored to be unhappy with the ‘personnel changes.’ In related news, Larry Summers has apparently been tapped to help ‘woo‘ new clients, so they should be okay.

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The firm is up to $7.2 billion in assets (from $6.7 billion last month) and needs to get comfortable with that before it can think about taking on any “new relationships.” [AR]

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Unlike some people who lack the stomachs, this fund is sticking to its oil positions.

Greg Zuckerman reports:

BlueGold, a $2.4 billion London-based fund, has suffered losses of about 20%, or nearly $500 million, so far this month, according to someone close to the matter.

Bets on rising oil prices were behind the losses. The downturn is the worst ever for the firm, which launched in February 2008. Despite the upheaval, BlueGold, led by Pierre Andurand, is exiting few positions, according to someone close to the matter.

Taylor Woods, launched in February by former commodities traders at Credit Suisse Group AG, including George “Beau” Taylor, exited oil trades early last week when the price drops were less pronounced, according to a person familiar with the matter. It ended last week down less than one-tenth of 1%, the person said.

Oil Bull Loses 20% But Keeps Charging [WSJ via BI]

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Marc Mezvinsky is back from his ski trip and ready to work, if you’re interested in investing or putting in a res.

The source, who heard the information firsthand from Chelsea’s hubby, tells us Mezvinsky has “decided to spearhead his own private [hedge] fund with two other guys,” and ideally will launch the company in the next few months. To help get the job done, the source adds that Mezvinksy will team up with “two guys from Goldman Sachs,” the investment banking mammoth where he worked from 2002 to 2008 (before joining 3G).

According to the source, since leaving 3G Capital, Mezvinsky — the son of Pennsylvania Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky and disgraced Iowa Congressman Ed Mezvinsky (who served five years in federal prison for fraud) — has stayed busy by “consulting on private projects,” hitting the gym and escorting his doting wife to charity events.

[NYDN]

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We’re not saying there’s any foul play afoot at the Raj Rajaratnam trial, we’re just saying it’s interesting that the jury couldn’t come to a decision re: the Galleon founder’s guilt or innocence after 7 days of deliberating and now, they have to start all over due to the dismissal of one guy for “medical reasons,” the very same week Rajaratnam gets a doctor’s note saying he can’t report to court due to emergency surgery he had on his foot over the weekend to treat a “bacterial infection.”

Deliberations in the insider-trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam are to begin anew after a juror was dismissed for medical reasons. The prosecution and defense agreed to replace the juror with an alternate. The nine women and three men had been considering securities fraud and conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court since April 25.

“The law requires you to base your verdict solely upon the evidence,” , U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell told the jurors in the courtroom today. “The verdict must represent the verdict of each juror, including the new juror that’s been seated.”

[Bloomberg]

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We’re not saying there’s any foul play afoot at the Raj Rajaratnam trial, we’re just saying it’s interesting that the jury couldn’t come to a decision re: the Galleon founder’s guilt or innocence after 7 days of deliberating and now, they have to start all over due to the dismissal of one guy for “medical reasons,” the very same week Rajaratnam gets a doctor’s note saying he can’t report to court due to emergency surgery he had on his foot over the weekend to treat a “bacterial infection.”

Deliberations in the insider-trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam are to begin anew after a juror was dismissed for medical reasons. The prosecution and defense agreed to replace the juror with an alternate. The nine women and three men had been considering securities fraud and conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court since April 25.

“The law requires you to base your verdict solely upon the evidence,” , U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell told the jurors in the courtroom today. “The verdict must represent the verdict of each juror, including the new juror that’s been seated.”

[Bloomberg]

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