According to press reports, Atticus Capital announced recently that it would shut down two of its three funds and liquidate their $3 billion in holdings. The company’s founder cited personal reasons for this action. The two funds had a heavy concentration in the financial sector, which resulted in significant losses last year. Atticus will continue to manage the $1.2 billion Atticus European Fund.

At its height in 2007, Atticus had $20 billion under management, but for the year ended July 31, 2009, its funds lost 13.3% percent in value. Investors in the flagship Atticus Global Fund will reportedly receive 95% of their asset value by early October, with the rest disbursed later in the year.

Atticus joins a growing list of hedge funds shutting down after last year’s turbulent markets hammered performance and spurred investors to withdraw their money.