Last year will be looked back upon as the year of hedge fund collapses in the US, with 83 funds shutting their doors, led by the collapse of the $9.1 billion multi-strategy Amaranth Advisers’ fund. Those that succumbed to either trading lapses, regulatory constraints or the competitive market-place in 2006 managed $35 billion at their collective peak, according to researcher Hedge Fund Intelligence. The researcher compiled a list of the hedge funds that were forced to close their doors – the largest of the closures was Amaranth Advisors’ Amaranth LLC, which also made history as the biggest-ever hedge fund shutdown. Other multi-strategy or multi-arbitrage funds included: Archeus Capital Management’s Animi Master Fund, which had peaked at $2.65 billion; Sagamore Hill Capital Management’s Sagamore Hill, which once held about $2.6 billion; and Saranac Capital Management’s Citigroup Multi-strategy Arbitrage/Saranac Arbitrage, which topped out at $2.2 billion. The strategy that was most prone to failure last year was found to be US long/short equity, accounting for 27 shutdowns, including Saranac’s Citigroup Archer/Saranac Total Return. Other strategies with high casualty rates were fixed income and high yield funds, six of which closed; and long/short biotech equity funds, which also produced six closures.