New York Sun – A California public employees’ pension fund that lost more than $100 million in the collapse of a major hedge fund, Amaranth Advisors LLC, announced yesterday that it has retainedlegal counsel to consider bringing a lawsuit over the loss.
Following a closed board meeting yesterday morning, the chairman of the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, David Myers, said a securities and class-action law firm with offices in New York and San Diego, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, will conduct a broad investigation into who was responsible for the Amaranth implosion.
“Bernstein Litowitz has been directed to explore the viability of all potential options,” Mr. Myers said.
Amaranth’s fortunes headed south last month after a complex series of bets on increasing natural gas prices was undercut by declines in energy costs. In the course of two weeks, about $9 billion in assets under management by the Greenwich, Conn.-based fund dwindled to roughly $3 billion.The San Diego pension fund said its $175 million Amaranth investment, which was valued at $234 million in June, is now estimated to be worth only $70 million.
