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Citadel is shutting down one of its four stock picking units a little over a year after launching.

Ravelin Capital, a San Francisco-based unit of Ken Griffin's $26 billion hedge fund firm, is shutting down, according to people familiar with the matter. The unit struggled with underperformance, one of the people said. 

Jeff Runnfeldt, who headed the unit, left on Tuesday, January 31. At the time of Runnfeldt's hire, the unit set out to manage as much as $1 billion with ten teams, Bloomberg reported at the time.

Runnfeldt had previously worked at Citadel for about a decade, up until 2012, before being rehired to head Ravelin, a LinkedIn profile shows.

The unit included six teams, and the majority of those teams are moving to one of Citadel's other units, Global Equities, one person said.

“Citadel has decided to consolidate Ravelin Capital into our Citadel Global Equities business," a spokesman for Citadel said. "This decision will further strengthen Global Equities by incorporating the best ideas and strongest talent from Ravelin.”

Citadel has just been named one of the most successful hedge funds of all time. The firm ranked fifth on a list put together London-based fund of funds LCH Investments ranking funds by net gains, after fees, since inception.

The hedge fund giant is also known to be one of the most competitive firms, with former employees and recruiters describing a culture that churns through portfolio managers and analysts who don't put up good performance numbers.

The Ravelin shutdown comes amid several other closures. Last year, Blackstone's Senfina platform closed following double-digit underperformance, less than two years after launching.

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