John Meriwether, well known as chairman of the collapsed Long Term Capital Management LP, plans to shut JWM Partners LLC after large losses.

Relative Value Opportunity II fund has reportedly lost 44 per cent between September 2007 and February 2009. JWM Partners, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, managed about $1 billion at the beginning of 2008. The fund returned on average a meager 1.46 per cent a year since inception in 1999.

The predecessor, Long-Term Capital, which collapsed in 1998, lost more than 90 percent of its $4.8bn of assets in the weeks following Russiaâ??s currency devaluation and bond default. The Federal Reserve orchestrated a $3.6bn bailout by the fundâ??s 14 banks to calm fears that the firmâ??s lenders and trading partners would be dragged down.