By Katrina Dean Allen
When William von Mueffling, the founder of Cantillon Capital Management, announced in June he would shut his hedge funds and convert into a long-only traditional money management shop, the investment community was stunned. Cantillon was the first of the über launches, coming out of the gate in 2003 with what was then a stunning billion dollars.
Von Mueffling had been a star at Lazard, where he'd made his bones shorting the tech bubble. But Von Mueffling had always had a fundamental approach to stock picking and investors say he liked to hold onto positions instead of trade—none of which served him particularly well last year. In 2008, Cantillon Europe, Cantillon World and Cantillon U.S. were down 10.72%, 9.25% and 16.27%, respectively.
Cantillon U.S. was liquidated at the end of 2008, while the other two funds have been converted to cash and...