Portman Square Capital, the hotly-anticipated hedge fund launch from the former global head of proprietary trading at Citigroup, Sutesh Sharma, is more than half way off its launch target of $500m, Financial News has learned.

The new firm had lined up US asset manager PineBridge Investments as a strategic investor but discussions have ended, according to two people familiar with the situation. So far the firm has in the region of $200m in committed capital, the two people said. A spokesman for PineBridge, which has $69.4bn in assets, declined to comment.