Key Takeaways
- • Shawn Cooper, a former Brevan Howard portfolio manager who spent one year at the firm after joining from Deutsche Bank in May 2015, has joined Orchard Global Asset Management as a portfolio manager, marking a senior departure from the troubled macro hedge fund.
- • Orchard Global has aggressively recruited from major investment banks in 2017, hiring four senior credit and fixed-income traders including Viktor Sebek (12 years at UBS), Philip Sbrocchi (Moelis & Co), and Tom Jørgesen (Deutsche Bank structured sales), signaling strategic expansion in structured credit and direct lending.
- • Brevan Howard's headcount contracted to 68 FCA-registered UK employees by October 2017, down from 74 at the start of the year, following reported $1.4 billion in redemptions and sustained senior departures including Karsten Filt (to Amia Capital) and Rajesh Amin (head of investments, to Goldman Sachs).
- • Cooper's departure reflects broader talent drain at Brevan Howard, though the macro hedge fund made selective senior hires including Andrea Casulli, former co-head of European government-bond trading at Goldman Sachs, who joined in a senior trading role in September 2017.
Summary
Shawn Cooper, a portfolio manager at Brevan Howard who departed in mid-2016 after just one year at the macro-focused hedge fund, has re-emerged at Orchard Global Asset Management, a credit-specialized alternative asset manager based in London. Cooper brings substantial structured credit expertise from his previous role as head of European asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligation (CDO) trading at Deutsche Bank, where he spent over nine years before joining Brevan Howard in May 2015.
Cooper's move to Orchard exemplifies a broader recruiting pattern at the alternative asset manager, which has quietly been poaching senior talent from investment banking over the course of 2017. The hiring spree includes Viktor Sebek, a credit trader with nearly 12 years of experience at UBS who joined Orchard in January; Philip Sbrocchi, formerly of Moelis & Co and hedge fund sponsor Merced Capital, who arrived in April; and Tom Jørgesen, a director in Deutsche Bank's structured sales team who joined as portfolio advisor in April after departing the bank in July 2016. This coordinated recruitment effort reflects Orchard's strategic focus on structured credit, direct lending, and opportunistic fixed income investments.
Cooper's departure from Brevan Howard occurred during a period of significant organizational stress at the macro hedge fund. The firm reportedly suffered $1.4 billion in redemptions and experienced an exodus of senior personnel beginning in mid-2016. This contraction has continued throughout 2017, with headcount declining to 68 FCA-registered employees in the UK by October, down from 74 at the beginning of the year. Notable recent departures include Karsten Filt, a portfolio manager who joined hedge fund start-up Amia Capital earlier in October, and Rajesh Amin, a former Goldman Sachs trader who served as Brevan Howard's head of investments and departed in September.
Despite the broader talent drain, Brevan Howard has made selective senior hires in 2017. The firm brought on Andrea Casulli, co-head of European government-bond trading at Goldman Sachs, in September in a senior trading role. This hiring suggests that while Brevan Howard faces retention challenges at the portfolio management level, it retains sufficient capital and strategic positioning to attract experienced traders from leading investment banks, even as competitors like Orchard capitalize on the exodus of mid-level talent.
Cooper's move to Orchard exemplifies a broader recruiting pattern at the alternative asset manager, which has quietly been poaching senior talent from investment banking over the course of 2017. The hiring spree includes Viktor Sebek, a credit trader with nearly 12 years of experience at UBS who joined Orchard in January; Philip Sbrocchi, formerly of Moelis & Co and hedge fund sponsor Merced Capital, who arrived in April; and Tom Jørgesen, a director in Deutsche Bank's structured sales team who joined as portfolio advisor in April after departing the bank in July 2016. This coordinated recruitment effort reflects Orchard's strategic focus on structured credit, direct lending, and opportunistic fixed income investments.
Cooper's departure from Brevan Howard occurred during a period of significant organizational stress at the macro hedge fund. The firm reportedly suffered $1.4 billion in redemptions and experienced an exodus of senior personnel beginning in mid-2016. This contraction has continued throughout 2017, with headcount declining to 68 FCA-registered employees in the UK by October, down from 74 at the beginning of the year. Notable recent departures include Karsten Filt, a portfolio manager who joined hedge fund start-up Amia Capital earlier in October, and Rajesh Amin, a former Goldman Sachs trader who served as Brevan Howard's head of investments and departed in September.
Despite the broader talent drain, Brevan Howard has made selective senior hires in 2017. The firm brought on Andrea Casulli, co-head of European government-bond trading at Goldman Sachs, in September in a senior trading role. This hiring suggests that while Brevan Howard faces retention challenges at the portfolio management level, it retains sufficient capital and strategic positioning to attract experienced traders from leading investment banks, even as competitors like Orchard capitalize on the exodus of mid-level talent.
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