Thunderstorm Capital [profile] is exiting the mutual fund business. The Boston-based firm plans to liquidate the $8.3 million Thunderstorm Value Fund on February 29. [SEC filing]

"It never reached the $18 million that I estimated it would need to break even," Thunderstorm Capital founder John Dorfman told The MFWire.

The fund's demise could be traced in part to the timing of its birth. Thunderstorm launched the fund on December 31, 2007.

The fund would have raised more assets "had we not launched at the moment the U.S. financial crisis was intensifying," Dorfman said.

Dorfman said he spent most of his time today on the phone inviting the fund's shareholders to return to separate accounts. The Thunderstorm Value Fund launched through a rollup of approximately 55 separate accounts.

"Many of them are saying yes," he reported.

Thunderstorm Capital, founded by Dorfman in 1999, will continue to run separate accounts. Dorfman does not envision the firm getting back into the mutual fund business at least through 2013.

"After that, we'll have to see," he said. "I have a better understanding of the marketing challenges now and a more sophisticated understanding of the economics of running a mutual fund and the importance of distribution."

If he does decide to return to the mutual fund space, "I will have to have a more robust and sophisticated marketing plan going in, whether through a substantial and experienced internal marketing force or an arrangement with a third-party that has nationwide distribution muscle." 

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