Gottex Fund Management, the $15.6bn (€11.1bn) fund of hedge funds manager, has frozen redemptions on one major portfolio and is liquidating another. Each are involved in making direct loans to borrowers, a strategy investors have held forth as resilient to current market turmoil.

The Switzerland-based manager cited poor investment performance and unproven allegations of fraud at US firm Petters Group Worldwide, which some of its underlying hedge funds are exposed to, as the reasons it was closing its asset-based lending fund of hedge funds.