Most of the local foundation’s assets are managed by the New York firm’s Jaguar Fund. Since first awarding community grants in 1998, the foundation has removed money from the Jaguar Fund to pay its grants.

In its first two years, the Robertson Foundation awarded 75 grants worth more than $3.37 million to community organizations and projects. An 11-member foundation board, comprised mostly of Salisbury residents, makes decisions on grants.

The board plans to meet April 17 to make its spring cycle of awards.

“The foundation is still in business and will remain in business,” Dave Setzer, executive director of the Blanche and Julian Robertson Foundation, said this morning. “We feel sorry that this has happened to him and to his investors. ... His generosity is unprecedented.

“You run out of adjectives to describe the level of generosity of Mr. Robertson to this community.”

Setzer first heard of the Tiger Fund’s possible closing Wednesday and watched cable business programming for some updates. Setzer said he feels confident the foundation is on sound financial ground. He focused much of his concern this morning on Robertson himself.

“We wish him the best,” Setzer said. If the New York firm does shut down, it will affect the careers of a lot of people with a lot of talent, he said.

With his sisters Blanche and Wyndham Robertson also making contributions, Robertson announced in October 1997 that he would donate $15 million to establish a Salisbury foundation in honor of his late parents. By Christmas of that year, the total actually had grown to an $18 million endowment.

In February of this year, Robertson gave an additional $5 million to the local foundation. On Robertson’s instructions, Setzer said, the foundation invested that money with Wachovia Bank, in an account that is used when the foundation pays out its grants.

Setzer said Robertson always was one for diversifying investments, even within his own organization.

“He kind of indicated that we should look after this,” Setzer said.

The foundation usually makes grant awards in the spring and fall, but the foundation board decided to skip the fall cycle in 1999. Setzer acknowledged that investments had not done as well as the board had hoped, and members decided not to deplete the foundation’s assets.

“We thought we would hold off,” Setzer said. The board also awarded more money — almost $900,000 — in the spring cycle of 1999 than it had originally planned.

Reports say that Tiger Management may transfer assets to one or more other hedge funds or return money to investors as it tries to leave the market in an orderly manner.

“I hope that’s what they’ll be able to do,” Setzer said.

The Jaguar Fund was down 7.8 percent in February and 13.8 percent for the year.

As a shareholder in the Jaguar Fund, the local foundation has received no communication about the possible closing of the Tiger Management Investment Co. Setzer acknowledged that the Wall Street maneuverings are hard to follow.

“That is a rarefied atmosphere,” Setzer said. “... That is extremely sophisticated investing and money managing. It’s going to be real interesting to see how it all plays.”

Former Post publisher Jim Hurley, another local investor and childhood friend of Robertson’s, read about the possible close of the Tiger Fund in The Wall Street Journal. Hurley has received no communication from Tiger Management about the firm’s future.

Hurley and his wife, Gerry, have investments with the Ocelot Fund under Tiger’s umbrella, and the charitable J.F. Hurley Foundation is connected to the Jaguar Fund.