Reuters reports that Peloton Partners, run by two former Goldman Sachs partners, is now closing its doors and liquidating two hedge funds which previously held some $3bn in assets.

The Financial Times reports that Peloton co-founder Ron Beller made an 'emotional' apology in a conference call to investors Wednesday, saying; 'I just can't come up with words to express our regrets adequately'. Beller told investors that the firm's once-$2bn ABS Fund was worthless, and that he doesn't know how much will remain of the $1.6bn Multi-Strategy Fund after banks seized and sold-off some of the assets. Beller said: 'This was not and is not a Peleton-specific issue. Counterparties made clear to us they were increasing haircuts across the board, and our efforts to get an exception....in the faces of the increases were largely rejected'. He continued: 'We believed that we were well positioned to whether this storm. In the event, the cumulative impact of these and other events proved devastating'.

And The Wall Street Journal reports that Swiss-American hedge fund Focus Capital Investors has liquidated its portfolio of Swiss mid-cap stocks, after 'substantial' trading losses incurred in February and missed margin calls. The hedge fund is said to have lost 80% of its $1bn value. A spokesperson said that it was too early to ascertain whether investors would recoup any of their investment, calling the implosion 'like an avalanche'.

The Financial Times reports that Texas fund manager Highland Capital Management is fighting 'a multi-front battle to ensure that it does not become a victim of the sliding value of its (once-$40bn) holdings'. Partner Jack Yang is quoted in the newspaper, saying; 'We are proactively calming the nerves of our investors', although he insisted that so far redemptions 'haven't been significant'.

Bloomberg reports that Carlyle Capital, the publicly traded credit fund backed by private equity firm Carlyle Group, has received a notice of default, after failing to meet a margin call. CEO John Stomber said in a statement that 'management is actively working with the company's repo counterparties to develop more stable financing terms'.

Finally, Absolute Return magazine reports that JPMorgan remains the world's biggest hedge fund manager as at January 1st, with assets of some $44.7bn (down 20% since July 2007). Next up comes Bridgewater Associates and Farallon Capital Management ($36bn), Renaissance Technologies ($34bn), and Och-Ziff ($33.2bn). A big loser was Goldman, falling from second to seventh place at $29.2bn.

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