Key Takeaways
- • Brevan Howard's flagship fund returned 24% in the year to May 15, 2020, while its AH Master Fund doubled at the pandemic peak in March 2020, triggering a strategic hiring expansion across New York and Hong Kong offices.
- • The firm recruited Ajay Kumar, former head of APAC Index trading at Goldman Sachs, for its Hong Kong operations and Mark Ipri, a fixed income portfolio manager from Citadel, for its New York desk, signaling focus on both regional expansion and fixed income capabilities.
- • Brevan Howard's asset base recovery mirrors broader hedge fund talent acquisition trends, as the industry capitalizes on bank trader mobility fears regarding dilution of sales and trading revenue by weak M&A and capital markets performance.
- • Competing funds including Millennium Asset Management (which hired over 100 people since March 2020), ExodusPoint, LMR, and Balyasny are simultaneously executing aggressive hiring campaigns, intensifying talent competition across portfolio manager and senior trading roles.
- • The hiring surge reflects a strategic inflection point for hedge funds pivoting toward buy-side talent acquisition, with banks' traders increasingly seeking hedge fund positions amid uncertainty about institutional equity valuations.
Summary
Brevan Howard is executing a targeted hiring campaign in key global financial centers following exceptional pandemic-era performance. The hedge fund's main fund achieved a 24% return in the year to May 15, 2020, while its AH Master Fund—managed by founder Alan Howard—doubled at the pandemic market nadir in March 2020. These returns have catalyzed headcount expansion in New York and Hong Kong, marking a significant operational shift for a firm that saw assets decline to $8 billion by year-end 2019, down substantially from its 2013 peak of nearly $40 billion.
The firm's recruitment strategy reflects both geographic and functional diversification. In Hong Kong, Brevan Howard hired Ajay Kumar, previously head of APAC Index trading at Goldman Sachs, targeting regional market-making and index arbitrage capabilities. In New York, the firm added Mark Ipri from Citadel as a fixed income portfolio manager, signaling expanded capacity in rates and credit strategies. These hires represent a deliberate effort to rebuild institutional credibility and investment infrastructure after the fund's multi-year asset contraction.
Brevan Howard's expansion exemplifies a broader hedge fund hiring phenomenon accelerated by pandemic volatility and market dislocations. Institutional hiring activity in the sector intensified dramatically, with Millennium Asset Management recruiting over 100 personnel since March 2020 alone, including Thomas Bowden, a former Goldman Sachs rates trader. ExodusPoint and LMR similarly activated recruitment pipelines for emerging portfolio managers, while Balyasny appointed James ter Haar, a former ExodusPoint partner, as macro portfolio manager. This coordinated talent acquisition reflects sustained optimism regarding hedge fund performance and institutional capital reallocation.
Market dynamics are driving trader migration from banking to alternative investment platforms. According to industry headhunters cited in the report, bank-based traders are actively seeking hedge fund opportunities due to concerns that strong sales and trading division performance will be diluted by capital markets and M&A weakness. Conversely, hedge funds are increasingly focusing recruitment efforts on the buy-side itself rather than banking institutions, with Goldman Sachs representing a notable exception to this pattern. This talent reorientation underscores confidence in hedge fund asset gathering and performance sustainability in the post-pandemic environment.
The firm's recruitment strategy reflects both geographic and functional diversification. In Hong Kong, Brevan Howard hired Ajay Kumar, previously head of APAC Index trading at Goldman Sachs, targeting regional market-making and index arbitrage capabilities. In New York, the firm added Mark Ipri from Citadel as a fixed income portfolio manager, signaling expanded capacity in rates and credit strategies. These hires represent a deliberate effort to rebuild institutional credibility and investment infrastructure after the fund's multi-year asset contraction.
Brevan Howard's expansion exemplifies a broader hedge fund hiring phenomenon accelerated by pandemic volatility and market dislocations. Institutional hiring activity in the sector intensified dramatically, with Millennium Asset Management recruiting over 100 personnel since March 2020 alone, including Thomas Bowden, a former Goldman Sachs rates trader. ExodusPoint and LMR similarly activated recruitment pipelines for emerging portfolio managers, while Balyasny appointed James ter Haar, a former ExodusPoint partner, as macro portfolio manager. This coordinated talent acquisition reflects sustained optimism regarding hedge fund performance and institutional capital reallocation.
Market dynamics are driving trader migration from banking to alternative investment platforms. According to industry headhunters cited in the report, bank-based traders are actively seeking hedge fund opportunities due to concerns that strong sales and trading division performance will be diluted by capital markets and M&A weakness. Conversely, hedge funds are increasingly focusing recruitment efforts on the buy-side itself rather than banking institutions, with Goldman Sachs representing a notable exception to this pattern. This talent reorientation underscores confidence in hedge fund asset gathering and performance sustainability in the post-pandemic environment.
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