Bronte Capital’s John Hempton, one of Australia’s best-known short sellers, is hunting for journalists to join his investment team and sharpen its dirt file, steering the hedge fund’s performance back to form after the second-worst losing streak in its history.

Mr Hempton, who put his struggling short-selling strategy under review late last year, posted a draft job advertisement in his latest investor letter targeted at former and current investigative journalists harbouring hedge fund ambitions.