Fortress Investment Group Llc. plans to close its flagship macro hedge fund after losing money and investors, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Fund manager Michael Novogratz is expected to leave the private-equity and hedge-fund firm, the newspaper reported.

The fund has declined 17.5 percent this year through September, according to a regulatory filing. That compares with a 0.6 percent loss by hedge funds with a similar investing style, HFR data show.

The fund, which was started in 2002, manages about $1.6 billion today, down from more than $8 billion in 2007.