BlueCrest Capital Management said that the increasing difficulty of adequately mirroring the performance of its computer-driven BlueTrend fund in "current economic conditions" was the reason behind plans to liquidate its sole Ucits hedge fund, a regulated offering that can be sold to retail investors.

The Ucits structure has gained in popularity in recent years with hedge fund and long-only managers as a way of diversifying their client base. BlueCrest's fund managed €439m at the end of September, which made it one of the largest funds in the Ucits universe. The fund also outperformed this year: it is up 5.4%, while the average hedge fund which is up 4.8%, according to data provider Hedge Fund Research.