"I'm a long-term believer in John Paulson," said Dick Pfister, chief executive at AlphaCore Capital, describing the fund manager as one of the brightest minds in the industry. "The Advantage fund has had its difficulties but Paulson has so many other portfolios and many of them are doing great. He has made big bets on themes and many are about to play out."
UBS clients will still have access to Paulson's portfolios. Paulson is offering a separate share class to UBS clients who want to remain in Advantage. UBS clients can also get into the $11 billion Paulson Partners fund, which is up roughly 8.5 percent through the first 6-1/2 months of the year, two sources said.
Bank of America clients also have the choice of rolling money from the Advantage fund into the Paulson Partners fund.
Customers at JP Morgan can access the Paulson Enhanced fund, which is up roughly 20 percent this year. The hedge fund also created a special portfolio for JP Morgan customers to bet on European stocks called the European Event Equities fund.
Later this year the firm will offer a private equity- oriented fund called Paulson Strategic Partners, as well as a stock fund that will concentrate on health-care companies that will be run by Paulson's partner, Guy Levy, someone familiar with Paulson's plans told Reuters.
The fund expects to raise $1 billion and Paulson plans to put in $500 million of his own money as startup capital, the source said.