A report that raises questions about a junk bond fund run by Avenue Capital Group is "misleading," Avenue boss Marc Lasry has told CNBC.
The had been beset by client withdrawals and heavy losses, and had stopped reporting its daily asset figures to two of the industry's top tracking firms as of mid-December.
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The fund is not required to report such data.
Avenue's billionaire founder Lasry gave CNBC the following statement: "A media report this evening was misleading and based on dated information."
"Our fund reports our net asset value (NAV) to all data services on a daily basis. Importantly, the fund's investors receive all key current information on the fund, either directly or through our website, and they know that we ended the practice of providing daily AUM reports to Morningstar and Lipper in mid-December.
"Beginning in February, Avenue will be reporting to these data services our AUM on a monthly, rather than daily, basis, similar to the practice of many funds and fund companies. Currently, the fund's holding of illiquid securities as a percentage of assets stands at a single-digit level, and its cash/dry powder stands at roughly 15 percent of assets."
Lasry also called the fund's performance "in-line with the high-yield market."
Investors have been scrutinizing high-yield mutual funds ever since the December demise of a Third Avenue Management fund. Third Avenue's Focused Credit Fund was forced to liquidate after heavy losses.