Hedge fund billionaire Larry Robbins is off to a terrible start

Hedge fund billionaire Larry Robbins, founder of Glenview Capital Management, is having a tough start to the year.

The fund has fallen 8% in the first week of trading of the year, The Wall Street Journal's Rob Copeland reports.

Last year, Glenview Capital was among the 20 worst-performing hedge funds, falling 17% through November 30, according to performance data compiled by HSBC.

Robbins last year sent investors the most humbling letters we've ever encountered.

"I've failed to protect your capital, and mine, from a significant drawdown, despite a flat market," Robbins wrote in the third-quarter investor letter.

The 46-year-old hedge fund manager went on to say he would "accept responsibility to repair the damage."

Robbins' hedge fund has been been a big investor in managed care, hospital, pharma, and veterinarian stocks. His top five equity holdings include Humana, Monsanto, Thermo Fisher Scientific, AbbVie, and Flextronics International, according to the most recent regulatory filing data.

In an effort to make it up to his investors, Robbins said in the letter he would be opening up a new fund without any management or performance fees.

"My goal is your capital, not my income," he wrote, "and I believe I have a responsibility to work for free to recover the losses I created for you."

The new fund will be a long-only vehicle focused on healthcare.

Robbins, who has an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion, also told investors that he would "rightfully earn nothing" for his 2015 performance.