Highbridge Asia Hedge Fund Said to Limit Withdrawals

Highbridge Capital Management LLC, the hedge fund company owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co., is limiting client withdrawal requests to avoid selling assets at distressed prices, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Investors who ask for withdrawals from the $1.9 billion Asia Opportunities Fund this quarter will get half their money by the end of January, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The fund, which lost 32 percent this year through October, will return the rest within 12 to 18 months.

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“This seems to be a much fairer alternative to fully halting redemptions or shuttering the fund,” said Tanya Styblo Beder, chairman of financial consultants SBCC Group in New York.

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Investors have asked to withdraw 36 percent of assets from Highbridge’s flagship multistrategy fund, the Wall Street Journal said today, citing people familiar with the situation. This may shrink the fund, which once had $15 billion of assets, to $6 billion, the newspaper said.