His Hedge Fund Shut, Whitney Tilson Says Now He'll Try Research

Whitney Tilson, a noted hedge fund manager, announced on Friday (February 8, 2019) that he is launching Empire Financial Research in partnership with "old friend" Porter Stansberry and Stansberry Research. The move marks a formal exit from active hedge fund management and a transition into the investment research and publishing space.

Tilson's decision follows the closure of his hedge funds in September 2018. In a Yahoo Finance interview, Tilson attributed the shutdown to chronic underperformance that resulted in significant asset attrition. His funds, which once managed approximately $200 million, had declined to just $50 million by the time of closure. Rather than attempt a turnaround in traditional asset management, Tilson elected to pursue a different business model centered on research and education.

The timing of Tilson's departure reflects broader structural challenges within the hedge fund industry. Despite overall industry assets continuing to expand, individual fund performance has remained persistently challenged. For established managers like Tilson, the cost-benefit analysis of maintaining a traditional hedge fund structure—given persistent underperformance and associated operational overhead—has shifted toward alternative ventures with lower capital requirements and different revenue models.

Through his new role at Stansberry Research, Tilson is now positioned as an editor of multiple investment newsletters, focusing on research-driven content and investment education rather than capital deployment. This repositioning allows him to leverage his profile and investment expertise within a publishing and subscription-based framework, which has become an increasingly viable path for former money managers facing performance challenges or seeking reduced operational complexity.