UPDATE 1-Hedge fund JD Capital liquidates Tempo Master fund

(Adds details about fund, background)

BOSTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Hedge fund firm JD Capital Management LLC is liquidating a roughly $1 billion fund that suffered heavy losses recently, the company's founder said on Monday.

"We are unwinding the Tempo Master fund," said J. David Rogers, a former Goldman Sachs executive. He said the fund, which invested roughly $1 billion, was exposed to what he called the "more troubled" spots of the market. People familiar with the fund said it lost more than 40 percent.

The portfolio is the latest in a string of casualties that occurred last year when the $1.5 trillion hedge fund industry suffered its worst returns in decades with the average fund losing roughly 23 percent, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.

Recently there were roughly 9,000 hedge funds. Last year's gyrating stock markets as well as the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers hurt hundreds of large and small portfolios, prompting industry experts to forecast that thousands of funds may be forced out of business in the coming months.

While many smaller funds will pass away unnoticed, JD Capital's troubles drew more attention in part because Rogers held prominent positions on Wall Street before launching his own fund firm. He had been co-head of Goldman Sachs' equities derivatives department and represented the firm when it worked with others to bail out hedge fund Long Term Capital Management in 1998.

JD Capital will continue to manage money however, concentrating on volatility arbitrage, Rogers said. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Brian Moss, Phil Berlowitz)