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Ralph Whitworth's Relational Investors LLC closed out its portfolio in December, marking the end of a firm that was a pioneer in activist investing and once had $6 billion in assets.

A securities filing late Friday disclosed that the firm has no stock positions and stopped all trading as of Dec. 18.

San Diego-based Relational, which was founded in 1996 and sparked change at companies including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Home Depot Inc., had been winding down operations since 2014. That July, the firm said Mr. Whitworth, its co-founder and public face, was taking an indefinite leave. That came after he learned his throat cancer had recurred, a person familiar with the matter said at the time.

The Wall Street Journal reported in October of that year that Relational would wind down. At the time, people familiar with the matter said some executives at the firm planned to begin a new fund, potentially under the Relational name. The executives had hoped to transfer some legacy Relational stakes, including in what were then H-P and industrial company SPX Corp., to the new fund, the people said then. But no such firm has yet been started, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

Relational had holdings in about 20 companies in 2014. Most of the stakes were worth between $250 million and $500 million and included shares in Mondelez International Inc. and Hologic Inc.

Before the fund started winding down, it had about $6 billion in assets.

Write to David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2016 17:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

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