More pain at hedge funds

A major trader at Moore Capital decides to get out.

Moore Capital Management LLC’s Greg Coffey is calling it quits amid markets that have proved difficult for even the most nimble hedge-fund investors.

Coffey, who has lost money for clients in the past two years, follows other high-profile hedge-fund managers to step away from trading as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and concerns over global economic growth roils markets. Chris Rokos, 42, a co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, retired to “pursue his personal interests,” the London-based firm said in August. Billionaire energy trader John Arnold, 38, former Morgan Stanley co-president Zoe Cruz, 57, and oil trader Pierre Andurand, 35, shuttered their hedge funds this year.

The industry has matured and the easy money is largely gone. It's now more a game of the management fees - the '2' in the '2 and 20' standard deal of 2% of assets and 20% of gains.