Clarium Capital

Function and history

Clarium was an employee-owned firm that invests in public equity (primarily in micro-cap companies), fixed income, and hedging markets. Unlike most funds, which charge clients about a 2% management fee for their total assets invested and an additional 20% performance fee of the increase in the fund's net asset value, Clarium charged a 0% management fee and a performance fee of 25%.

The company stopped working while Thiel worked at PayPal and resumed in 2002. In 2008, Clarium moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City. In June 2010 Thiel closed the New York office to consolidate the company into one location at its San Francisco office. By 2011, the company had shrunk by 90%. It was considered defunct by 2013.

Performance

2002

Clarium's 2002 performance, a series of correct bets in the energy markets that global demand would cause an oil shortage, was described by a 2009 Wall Street Journal article as "impressive".

2008-2010

Clarium was down 4.5% in 2008, down 25% in 2009, and down 23% in 2010. For the first half of 2008, the fund had a YTD return of 57.9%. At the start of 2008, the fund had $4 billion in assets under management (AUM), It lost most of its value in 2008 on large bets that the US dollar would fall, and AUM reached $681 million in December 2010.

References

References

1. "Clarium Capital Management LLC - Company Profile and News".
2. [https://maps.google.com/maps?cid=0,0,18203862232998980181 Clarium Capital on Google Maps]
3. [http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/item_bMnscEzYb8bTpTRLMoZsgI "Thiel's Hedge Fund Plummet"]. ''New York Post''. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
4. Kishan, Saijel. (Jan 12, 2011). "Clarium Hedge Fund Shrinks 90 percent as Thiel Has Third Losing Year". Bloomberg.
5. Burton, Katherine. (September 24, 2010). "Clarium's Thiel Says Dollar Is Undervalued as Deflationary Period Looms". Bloomberg.
6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071017120635/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4976137 "Clarium Capital Management LLC"]. ''BusinessWeek''. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
7. Tate, Ryan. "Facebook Backer Peter Thiel Escapes New York". Gawker.
8. (2011-01-12). "Clarium Hedge Fund Shrinks 90% as Thiel Has Third Losing Year". Bloomberg.com.
9. "Morning Brief: Jana Partners Has Best Year Since 2013".
10. Zuckerman, Gregory. (September 28, 2009). "Pessimism Exacts a Price on the Skeptics". WSJ.
11. [http://seekingalpha.com/article/124107-hedge-fund-portfolio-tracking-peter-thiel-s-clarium-capital-q4-2008 "Hedge Fund Portfolio Tracking: Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital, Q4 2008"]
12. [http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2010/01/11/daily2.html "Thiel's Clarium Capital reportedly hurting"]
13. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110101180259/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-06/peter-thiel-s-clarium-hedge-fund-falls-23-this-year.html "Peter Thiel's Clarium Hedge Fund Falls 23% This Year"]
14. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100705125733/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0948639720080709 "Clarium hedge fund posts gains of 57.9 percent"]. Reuters. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
15. link. (July 8, 2010 . Gawker. Retrieved June 27, 2010.)
16. Laing, Jon. (May 21, 2011). "The Happy Warrior". Barron's.