rk-based investment management firm Fir Tree Inc. has closed its Mortgage Opportunity Fund (MOF), a limited-term opportunity fund that totals approximately $400 million in capital and commitments. The company says it plans to deploy the capital broadly across the mortgage opportunity set, which includes senior, high-quality mortgage securities and structured products. Terms of the fund, launched in July 2008, allow Fir Tree to call capital from limited partner commitments as the managers identify investment opportunities. Limited partners have agreed to a multiyear lockup of their capital to allow Fir Tree to execute its investment strategy through the current credit market cycle. ‘As patient investors, we wanted to structure the Mortgage Opportunity Fund so that we could properly optimize our [limited partners'] capital in 2009,’ says Andrew Fredman, managing partner of Fir Tree. ‘Our decision to maintain a cautious approach in 2008 allowed us to take full advantage of the opportunities unfolding in 2009.’ With the closing of MOF, Fir Tree, which was founded in 1994, manages over $4 billion. ‘In what is regarded as the most difficult market environment in decades, we are pleased with MOF's initial performance and are extraordinarily grateful for the support of many of our long-standing limited partners and a select group of new institutional partners," adds Jim Walker, managing partner. SOURCE: F