(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund Emerging Sovereign Group is returning money to investors after 17 years so its founders can focus on managing their own capital.

ESG, which was backed by billionaire Julian Robertson, will return $1.3 billion to clients, according to a letter viewed by Bloomberg. Investors will get their money back by the end of the month, a person with knowledge of the firm’s plans said. Most of the assets were from clients who had their money locked up for five years. Thomas Dwan, president of ESG, declined to comment.

“We believe the time has come to return to a more flexible investment approach,” founders Kevin Kenny, Mete Tuncel and Jason Kirschner said in the letter. “We see in today’s market dislocation a compelling opportunity to compound our internal capital and we are excited to pursue a more personal and aggressive investment style both in public and private markets.”

Kenny, Tuncel and Kirschner founded their New York-based hedge fund in 2002 with an investment from Robertson, and then sold a majority stake to Carlyle Group LP in 2011. They bought it back two years ago. Before starting their hedge fund, the trio worked together at Morgan Stanley, where Kenny was the head of global emerging markets debt trading and syndicate.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Alan Mirabella, Vincent Bielski

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