Ariel Investments is making layoffs. Mellody Hobson, president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments LLC, confirmed the cuts to the The Chicago Defender.

"We recently tightened our belt and laid off 18 employees,” Hobson said. “What we did is no different from what other companies are doing in response to the weak economy."

Morgan Stanley analyst Barry Thomas also put in his two cents, telling the pub that poor returns on some of Ariel's funds may have contributed to the layoffs.

According to the Defender, this is the first time Ariel has had to downsize since its founding a quarter century ago.

Earlier this week, Ariel suffered a blow when the firm and four other asset managers lost their mandates with the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (see The MFWire, August 7, 2008).  

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