Legendary U.S. investor Boone Pickens closes energy hedge fund after s

(Paragraph 6 of this JAN. 12 story has been corrected after HSBC said the Andurand Commodities Fund gained 2.2 pct in 2017, instead of losing 4.47 pct)

By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Legendary investor T. Boone Pickens said on Friday he had closed his Dallas-based energy hedge fund after health and financial upsets, the latest oil-focused fund to report setbacks.

Pickens, 89, said in a letter posted online that he planned to focus on his health and entrepreneurship, philanthropic and political activities. He is still recovering from a serious fall last summer and suffered a series of strokes in late 2016.

“Trading oil is not as intriguing to me as it once was,” he wrote. “It’s no secret the past year has not been good to me, from a health perspective or a financial one.”

That willingness to sell his shares back to the company at a premium, a practice known as “greenmail,” led to accusations he was not interested in improving or running the companies he challenged. Pickens always denied that.

A decade ago, he unveiled his “Pickens Plan,” a lobbying effort to wean the United States from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by championing the use of alternative energy and natural gas. He spent in excess of $100 million to promote the effort, a spokesman said.

Brian Bradshaw and David Meaney, executives of the shuttered Pickens hedge fund, BP Capital, have started their own hedge fund, Assert Capital Management LP.

Their energy commodities fund will start operations next week with about $25 million, mostly from past BP Capital investors. It plans to raise another $200 million this summer, Meaney said in an interview on Friday.

Pickens remains involved in his charitable foundation and on the board of Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE.O), which operates natural gas refueling stations.

Two of Pickens’ investment vehicles, private equity funds BP Energy Partners and mutual funds manager BP Capital Fund Advisors, remain in operation.