(Bloomberg) -- Vinland Capital’s Andre Laport, one of Brazil’s most prominent money managers, has left the hedge fund he co-founded, handing control to James Oliveira.
The decision to depart Vinland was personal, driven by Laport’s intent to live outside Brazil, “and the entire process has been conducted in a friendly manner,” the firm said in a statement Monday. Vinland had about 9.7 billion reais ($1.75 billion) of assets under management in hedge, pension, equity and fixed-income funds as of July, according to Anbima, the nation’s capital-markets association.
“There will be no changes to the manager’s strategies, products or teams,” Vinland said, noting that Oliveira will take over the equity team and be the controlling partner.
It’s a tough moment for hedge funds in Brazil as high interest rates reduce appetite for risk and some firms’ performance lags behind. That has dried up client demand, contributing to net outflows of 278.9 billion reais from the industry in the 12 months through August, according to Anbima. Adding to the pressure, a new rule increased the tax burden on rich investors using exclusive funds to invest in hedge funds, while cutting taxes for private credit funds.
Laport gained notoriety as the first Brazilian to become a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
He and Oliveira, formerly one of Banco BTG Pactual SA’s controlling partners, later set up Vinland in 2018. And in 2021, the firm received a capital injection from Rising Star, a fund created by Itau Unibanco Holding SA to invest in promising companies.
The Vinland Macro Master FIM has returned 1.57% this year and 5.29% over the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
(Updates with Vinland’s statement, a description of its business and industry outflows from the second paragraph.)
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