Man GLG macro hedge fund lost 9 pct in Jan, to shut - sources

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A macro hedge fund managed by the GLG unit of Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) lost 9 percent in January and is closing, sources said.

The decision follows a torrid month for many macro hedge funds who were caught out by the Swiss franc rise during the month after a surprise decision by the Swiss National Bank to remove a cap on the currency.

The GLG Atlas Macro fund manages about $70 million, down from peak assets of about $600 million in 2012, and is one of the smallest hedge funds under the GLG unit, which managed $32.2 billion at the end of September last year.

The remainder of the fund's assets will be merged into the Man GLG Multi-Strategy Fund, which manages about $1 billion, one of the sources said.

Macro hedge funds, which focus on major economic trends and bet on assets such as stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and indices, gained 2.35 percent last month, data from industry tracker Eurekahedge showed.

A spokeswoman for Man Group declined to comment.

(Reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Carolyn Cohn)