Major Commodities Fund Closes, In Blow to Lehman

Ospraie Fund, a big commodities fund partly owned by Lehman Brothers Holdings, is closing down and will return money to investors after incurring big losses this year.

People close to the fund, which had nearly $4 billion in assets, said the losses resulted from bad bets in copper and natural gas, causing the flagship fund to lose 38% since the beginning of the year.

The closing of the fund is a big blow to Lehman, whose 20% stake in Ospraie is part of the investment-management business that Lehman is shopping to help raise capital.