Jean-Pierre Aguilar, the chief executive and co-founder of one of Europe's largest and oldest hedge funds, Capital Fund Management, died in a gliding accident on Saturday.
Known to friends and colleagues as JP, Mr Aguilar, 49, was a pioneer of the European hedge fund industry. An engineer and computer scientist by training, he set up CFM in 1991.
The fund went on to become one of the most prominent quantitative trading outfits in Europe. It was touted recently as the continent's answer to the quant super-fund, Renaissance Technologies, based in the US.
The accident occurred late on Saturday morning in the Ubaye Valley in the south of France, close to the Italian-French border. Mr Aguilar was a gliding enthusiast and experienced pilot. His co-pilot, Michel Fache, president of the Barcelonnette gliding club, also died in the crash.
The two had been competing in a gliding tournament at the Barcelonnette airfield – a notoriously tough locale of mountainous terrain and unpredictable weather.
With just over $2.7bn in assets under management, Paris-based CFM is one of France's largest hedge funds.
The board met on Sunday and is expected to release a statement on the fund's management situation in the coming days.
"It is with great sadness that Capital Fund Management announces that its CEO and co-founder, Jean-Pierre Aguilar, tragically died in a gliding accident over the weekend," Jean-Philippe Bouchard, CFM president, wrote on behalf of the board in a letter to investors on Monday morning.
"Our first thoughts are with Jean-Pierre's widow and children, and the family of his fellow pilot.
"He was an inspirational leader and a great friend who will be sorely missed by his colleagues and clients within the hedge fund industry, where he made a major and original contribution."
Mr Aguilar leaves behind three children.
CFM employs just over 100 people, most of whom work in researching the complex algorithmic trading strategies the fund uses to make money.
The fund is known for its collegiate work environment, and the sudden loss of its chief and founder is a considerable blow.
"The firm has gone through several crises in the past and we want to reassure our investors that this terrible event will not interrupt CFM's high level of service or impact its ability to provide outstanding long-term investment returns," Mr Bouchard told investors.
CFM has only just recovered from difficulties faced in late 2007, when the fund lost $407m because of the collapse of US investment management firm Sentinel, with which it had cash and securities on deposit.
CFM's performance since the Sentinel crisis has been good, however. The firm's flagship Stratus fund returned 8.36 per cent in 2008, beating the broader hedge fund industry. It was on course for a similar return in 2009.
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