Key Takeaways
- • Walleye Capital cut Anil Gondi, head of its equity long/short business, along with a substantial portion of the long/short team, according to a letter to investors from CEO Will England quoted by Business Insider.
- • Walleye reportedly lost 5.9% in October and is returning some of its $17bn of capital to investors, per Bloomberg.
- • Going forward, Walleye will continue trading stocks, but internal equity teams will report directly to England, after the firm's prior investments in internal business improvement "did not produce the results we expected."
- • England's 2023 Colossus interview, when Walleye had about $5bn in AUM, described portfolio manager roles as psychologically "extremely toxic"; the firm has since refocused on equities after cutting credit teams in 2025 and global macro teams in 2024.
Summary
Walleye Capital, the multistrategy hedge fund, has cut its equity long/short leadership and a substantial portion of that team after a difficult October, according to a letter to investors from CEO Will England quoted by Business Insider. The firm reportedly posted a 5.9% loss in October. Bloomberg reported that Walleye is returning some of its $17bn of capital to investors.
According to Business Insider, the departures include Anil Gondi, head of the equity long/short business, who joined Walleye from Balyasny in July 2025. Walleye plans to continue trading stocks, but internal equity teams will now report to England himself. In the letter, England wrote: "Over the past few years, we invested considerable effort in improving the internal business, including bringing in new leadership. Those efforts did not produce the results we expected, and the opportunity cost and resources consumed have been too high relative to the return." Walleye did not respond to a request for comment.
The move follows a broader retrenchment. Walleye cut its global macro teams in 2024 and its credit teams in 2025, and refocused on equities sales and trading. It hired Tom D'Angelis, formerly head of equities business development at Citadel, in 2023 to lead that push, and brought in new equities portfolio managers. It is not clear from the reporting how many of the affected team members remain.
England, who joined Walleye as a quant in 2013 and transformed the firm from an options market maker into a multistrategy hedge fund, drew attention in a September 2023 Colossus interview, when Walleye managed about $5bn. He described portfolio management as "psychologically extremely toxic" and said he tries to be fair to PMs during drawdowns rather than cutting them over a red cell in a spreadsheet. A former Walleye PM told Business Insider that it had been "a very unfortunate October" for the firm.
According to Business Insider, the departures include Anil Gondi, head of the equity long/short business, who joined Walleye from Balyasny in July 2025. Walleye plans to continue trading stocks, but internal equity teams will now report to England himself. In the letter, England wrote: "Over the past few years, we invested considerable effort in improving the internal business, including bringing in new leadership. Those efforts did not produce the results we expected, and the opportunity cost and resources consumed have been too high relative to the return." Walleye did not respond to a request for comment.
The move follows a broader retrenchment. Walleye cut its global macro teams in 2024 and its credit teams in 2025, and refocused on equities sales and trading. It hired Tom D'Angelis, formerly head of equities business development at Citadel, in 2023 to lead that push, and brought in new equities portfolio managers. It is not clear from the reporting how many of the affected team members remain.
England, who joined Walleye as a quant in 2013 and transformed the firm from an options market maker into a multistrategy hedge fund, drew attention in a September 2023 Colossus interview, when Walleye managed about $5bn. He described portfolio management as "psychologically extremely toxic" and said he tries to be fair to PMs during drawdowns rather than cutting them over a red cell in a spreadsheet. A former Walleye PM told Business Insider that it had been "a very unfortunate October" for the firm.
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