Key Takeaways
- • Eight senior technologists have departed Brevan Howard in the past 18 months, including Alan Russell, head of front office engineering, who left in September 2025 after joining the firm in September 2023.
- • Brevan Howard is undergoing significant technology infrastructure transformation, including the "Lodestar project" that moved trading and risk systems back in-house from Coremont, the fund's IT managed service provider spin-off.
- • New leadership is actively reshaping the technology function: Mike Sanders arrived as CTO from JPMorgan in September 2024 and subsequently hired Tim Mace from Man Group as head of AI in late 2024.
- • The fund has scaled substantially, growing from 150 employees and 30 portfolio managers in 2019 to 1,050 employees and 145 portfolio managers today, with much of the non-PM headcount expansion concentrated in technology roles.
- • Brevan Howard has declined to comment on the departures, and the specific reasons for Russell's exit and other recent departures remain undisclosed by the firm.
Summary
Brevan Howard, the multistrategy hedge fund founded in 2002 by Alan Howard, has continued to experience senior-level technology departures. Alan Russell, the fund's head of front office engineering, left in September 2025, marking the eighth confirmed departure of a senior technologist from the firm over the past 18 months. Russell had joined Brevan Howard in September 2023 and, according to his LinkedIn profile, worked on the fund's "front office IT digital transformation," including the "Lodestar project," which involved moving large numbers of trading and risk systems back in-house from Coremont, Brevan Howard's IT managed service provider spin-off.
The departures occur within a broader context of significant organizational change at the hedge fund. In September 2024, Brevan Howard appointed Mike Sanders as its new chief technology officer, recruiting him from JPMorgan. Sanders has since hired Tim Mace from Man Group as head of AI in late 2024, signaling aggressive investment in artificial intelligence capabilities alongside the technology infrastructure overhaul. The fund declined to comment on Russell's departure or provide rationale for the other exits, and Russell himself did not respond to requests for comment.
Brevan Howard's headcount trajectory underscores the technology focus underlying recent departures. The firm currently employs 1,050 people and manages 145 portfolio managers, according to its website. In contrast, 2019 figures showed only 150 employees and 30 portfolio managers, suggesting that the majority of new hires over the past five years have been technology-focused personnel. This substantial expansion in the technology function, combined with the Lodestar project's repatriation of systems from external vendors, indicates a strategic shift toward building internal technological capabilities—a transition that may have contributed to the documented departures of established technologists.
The departures occur within a broader context of significant organizational change at the hedge fund. In September 2024, Brevan Howard appointed Mike Sanders as its new chief technology officer, recruiting him from JPMorgan. Sanders has since hired Tim Mace from Man Group as head of AI in late 2024, signaling aggressive investment in artificial intelligence capabilities alongside the technology infrastructure overhaul. The fund declined to comment on Russell's departure or provide rationale for the other exits, and Russell himself did not respond to requests for comment.
Brevan Howard's headcount trajectory underscores the technology focus underlying recent departures. The firm currently employs 1,050 people and manages 145 portfolio managers, according to its website. In contrast, 2019 figures showed only 150 employees and 30 portfolio managers, suggesting that the majority of new hires over the past five years have been technology-focused personnel. This substantial expansion in the technology function, combined with the Lodestar project's repatriation of systems from external vendors, indicates a strategic shift toward building internal technological capabilities—a transition that may have contributed to the documented departures of established technologists.
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