The Pequot Indians are a tribe that inhabited the Connecticut area. They were mostly rendered nonexistent by war and fire. Pequot Capital was a hedge fund that inhabited the Connecticut area. It is now mostly rendered nonexistent after various scandals involving insider trading in Microsoft (an investigation that was closed, then reopened), deal tipoffs from John Mack with a hearty dose suspicion of coverups and meddling, and other nefariousness rendered investor opinion cloudy, with a chance of meatballs:

It’s not easy running a hedge fund these days, especially given the new fervor for oversight in Washington.

Art Samberg knows something about that. The 68-year-old hedge fund manager is shutting down Pequot Capital amid a lingering investigation into insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission that has “cast a cloud” over the operation.

In a letter to investors late Wednesday, Samberg, who started Pequot in 1986, said the government continues to investigate his trading for the firm in 2001, and the probe had become an increasing “personal distraction.”

“With the situation increasingly untenable for the firm and for me, I have concluded that Pequot can no longer stay in business as an investment advisor,” he said in the letter.

Hard out there for a pimp, etc. There is no Wells notice in sight, so perhaps Art Samberg has simply decided he has better stuff to do — maybe he just wishes he could hang out and perhaps host MTV awards shows like Andy Samberg. At any rate, it’s a $2bn liquidation on tap as Pequot winds down.