August was not a propitious month for hedge funds, with the reverberations from the US subprime mortgage crisis, the subsequent credit squeeze and the travails of many quantitative funds grabbing the headlines.

But MPC Investors, a London-based hedge fund outfit, proved an oasis of calm in the middle of a storm, successfully raising $900m for its latest fund launch, MPC Samsara, a pan-European directional long/short equity vehicle.