Oppenheimer: Currency Fiasco 'Insult To Injury' At Fortress Investment Group

Fortress Investment Group LLC's FIG losses in the recent Swiss franc fiasco add "insult to injury" according to an analyst who downgraded the company's shares Thursday.

The private equity and investment firm with about $66 billion under management, told investors in a recent letter that its macro hedge fund lost 7.64 percent last week, according to a report by Reuters.

The fund accounted for about $7.5 billion of the company's assets under management as of September 30.

Fortress shares are down more than 7 percent in the past week, trading recently at $7.50, off 1 percent on the day.

"This will be the second disastrous January in a row for the Macro fund" according to Oppenheimer's Chris Kotowski, who noted a 5.9 percent loss in January 2013, "from which it only partially recovered."

The fund accounted for about $7.5 billion of the company's assets under management as of September 30.

Kotowski said Fortress's credit business has offered more healthy returns but likened the company to a "a car running on one cylinder."

"The credit cylinder seems to be firing but a car running on one cylinder does present risk," Kotowski said.

Kotowski downgraded Fortress to Perform, from Outperform Thursday, citing sub-par returns from the company's private equity and hedge fund segments.

The company, which went public in 2007, has had a colorful history that included the hiring of former senator John Edwards in 2006 and the at times controversial buyout of Intrawest Resorts.