Hedge Manager Druckenmiller Bows Out

So at the age of 57, Druckenmiller is going to close down his fund. Apparently, it sounds like it is no longer fun for him to manage institutional money. Actually, this is not uncommon. After all, Fidelity's Peter Lynch retired while in his forties. Simply put, the stress can be agonizing, especially when the assets-under-management reach levels that make it tough to get competitive returns (Duqesne has $12 billion).

Druckenmiller's expertise is in macro bets. Essentially, this means taking massive positions in large markets, such as currencies. Perhaps his most notable trade was when he helped legendary hedge fund manager, George Soros, short the British pound in 1992. The result was a $1 billion profit. Oh, and then within a few months, Druckenmiller made another billion on the Swedish kroner.

Like all great investors, Druckenmiller had a successful track record because he knew how to take advantage of big moves in the market. However, over the past couple years, his investment skills lagged as his missed some big opportunities, such as a bond rally.

Druckenmiller will not completely forsake investing. Instead, he will continue to manage a portion of his $2.8 fortune and farm out the rest to other top money managers.

Tom Taulli is also the author of several books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and also develops iPhone apps for finance.