Bowman’s ‘Simpler, Smaller’ Approach

Lawrence Bowman’s $4.5-billion hedge fund group is refunding more than $1 billion to investors, aiming to lift returns by making the firm “simpler and smaller.”

The 42-year-old Bowman, a former manager at Fidelity Investments, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that one of his top managers, John Hurley, is leaving, and that he’s shutting the Technology Fund, which invests in such large-capitalization stocks as AOL Time Warner Inc. (ticker symbol: AOL) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO).

“I’ve been unhappy with the performance, so to regain our footing and improve our performance, we are making the firm simpler and smaller,” said Bowman, who founded San Mateo, Calif.-based Bowman Capital Management in 1995 after leaving Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management, where he worked for two years.

The once-highflying Technology Fund lost 14.5% in the first quarter and is down 20% in the first four months of the year, according to investors. The Founders Fund, which invests in smaller technology companies, lost 9.5% in the first quarter.

Bowman’s retreat parallels the troubles faced by hedge funds focused on undervalued stocks amid the dot-com mania of 1999 and 2000. Robertson shut his Tiger Fund after lagging behind the market, and George Soros scaled back on risky investments after losses from mistimed bets on technology shares.

In a hedge fund, managers can “short” stocks--borrowing shares and selling them in the hopes of buying them back later at a cheaper price.