Dec 23 (Reuters) – John Meriwether’s JWM Partners LLC hedge fund will lose four of its seven active partners and cut 10 of 35 staff after the weak performance of its flagship fund this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Greenwich, Connecticut firm expects to lose four partners next year, including Lawrence Hilibrand and John Tsai, the paper said, citing a letter sent to investors on December 17.

According to the paper, the letter said Arjun Krishnamachar is expected to leave by March 31 and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Geisert after March 31.

JWM’s flagship fund, the Relative Value Opportunity Portfolio, fell 42.78 percent in the first 11 months of this year, the paper said.

Meriwether’s previous hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management, had to accept a $3.6 billion bailout by U.S. banks in 1998 after it ran aground with leveraged trading strategies.

JWM could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; editing by John Stonestreet)