Hedge fund Clarium takes 9.9 pct hit in March-note

By Dane Hamilton

NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Clarium Capital Management, a $3.8 billion hedge led by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, fell 9.9 percent in March on foreign stock investments, but is still up 15 percent for the year, the firm told investors in a note this week.

Clarium, a "global macro" fund that invests in commodities, currencies, fixed income and equities, posted an 8.5 percent decline in foreign equity, which worsened the month's returns. It didn't specify its foreign equity holdings in the letter obtained by Reuters.

Clarium's negative returns came amid what experts say is a general slump in hedge fund returns in March, in tandem with stock and bond markets worldwide.

But the San Francisco-based firm has had a good track record, with gains of 40.3 percent in 2007 and 24.4 percent in January -- its strongest month since inception in 2002, according to the letter.

A firm representative declined to comment on the results.

Clarium's March performance suggests that other macro funds may have fared poorly last month after two previous strong months. According to industry tracker Hedge Fund Research, global macro funds on average gained 13 percent in the first two months of 2008. March numbers haven't come in yet for many funds.

HFR said much of the "outstanding" gains in January and February were due to short positions in the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies, and long both sovereign debt and commodities. HFR tracks more than 11,000 hedge funds and funds that invest in hedge funds, known as funds of funds.

(Reporting by Dane Hamilton, editing by Richard Chang) (Reuters email: dane.hamilton@reuters.com. 646 223 6161. Reuters messaging: dane.hamilton.reuters.com@reuters.net)