Amaranth Advisors
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| Private | |
| Industry | Hedge funds |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Nicholas Maounis |
| Headquarters | Greenwich, Connecticut, United States |
| Total assets | $9 billion (at its peak) |
Amaranth Advisors LLC was an American multi-strategy hedge fund founded by Nicholas Maounis and headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. During its peak, the firm had up to $9 billion in assets under management before collapsing in September 2006, after losing in excess of $5 billion on natural gas futures. The firm's failure was one of the largest known trading losses and hedge fund collapses in history.
The company was founded in 2000 by Nicholas Maounis and based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Throughout much of its history, convertible arbitrage was the firm's primary profit vehicle.
During 2004-2005, the firm shifted its emphasis to energy trading by Canadian trader Brian Hunter who invested in the natural gas market. Hunter had made enormous profits by being bullish on natural gas prices in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina curtailed production. Hunter invested heavily in natural gas futures which resulted in a loss of $6.5 billion when prices failed to move as expected. This led to considerable debate and increased media attention about risk management practices to prevent catastrophic losses.
The fund had up to $9 billion under management and reports indicated their losses may have exceeded 65 percent of their investment. Amaranth transferred its energy portfolio to a third party consisting of Citadel LLC and JPMorgan Chase. On September 29, 2006, Amaranth's founder sent a letter to fund investors notifying them of the fund's suspension and on October 1, 2006, Amaranth hired the Fortress Investment Group to liquidate its assets.
On July 25, 2007, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Amaranth and Hunter with attempting to manipulate the price of natural gas futures. Additionally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission charged Amaranth, Hunter and trader Matthew Donohoe with market manipulation. The CFTC and the FERC had conflicting versions of what Hunter did, and are currently competing over jurisdiction.
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