Key Takeaways
- • Dhairyasheel Deshmukh, Bank of America's global head of FICC technology, has joined Balyasny Asset Management as head of investment technology, reporting to CTO Mike Grimaldi, marking a significant hire from a major financial institution's technology leadership.
- • Deshmukh will oversee front-office technology teams across equities, multi-asset arbitrage, commodities, and fixed income & macro divisions, leveraging his background as JPMorgan's former global head of equities algorithmic trading technology and his 16-year tenure at BofA managing risk management platforms.
- • Balyasny is expanding its technology infrastructure following strong 2025 performance, with the fund generating 16.7% returns, outperforming peers like Two Sigma and Schonfeld while remaining behind competitors such as D.E. Shaw.
- • The hedge fund has experienced recent leadership volatility in its commodities division, with star Goldman Sachs veteran Damien Courvalin departing in March 2026 after joining in 2023 to lead the Commodities Intelligence Group, alongside exits by other Goldman MD-level traders including Max Iakovlev.
Summary
Balyasny Asset Management has recruited Dhairyasheel Deshmukh, the global head of fixed income, commodities and currencies (FICC) technology at Bank of America, to serve as head of investment technology reporting to the hedge fund's Chief Technology Officer Mike Grimaldi. The move represents a significant acquisition of banking-sector technology leadership for the $33 billion alternative asset manager, which has been systematically building out its technology infrastructure across multiple trading divisions.
Deshmukh's appointment is noteworthy given his career trajectory bridging major financial institutions. He joined BofA in 2010 as a managing director working on the bank's Quartz risk management platform and later served as co-head of global markets technology architecture. Prior to his BofA tenure, Deshmukh held the position of executive director and global head of equities algorithmic trading technology at JPMorgan—experience directly applicable to Balyasny's substantial equities division, which houses over 60 portfolio managers including founder Dmitry Balyasny. At Balyasny, Deshmukh's responsibilities will span front-office technology across the fund's equities, multi-asset arbitrage, commodities, and fixed income & macro divisions, excluding the systematic strategies group.
The hiring comes as Balyasny capitalizes on strong 2025 performance, during which the fund generated 16.7% returns, surpassing returns from Two Sigma and Schonfeld. The fund's technology recruitment efforts occur amid concurrent leadership transitions in its commodities division. In March 2026, Damien Courvalin, a former Goldman Sachs managing director who had joined Balyasny in 2023 to lead the Commodities Intelligence Group, departed unexpectedly following a reported 3.5% loss during the week through March 6. That same week, traders Toby Sheppard and Max Iakovlev, another ex-Goldman MD, also exited the fund. Courvalin had spent 16 years at Goldman as the firm's combined head of energy research and commodities strategist, while Iakovlev had previously held MD-level positions at the investment bank. Despite Courvalin's higher market profile, he reported to Dan Deighton, who remains as Balyasny's overall head of global commodities and joined the fund in 2022 from Goldman, where he spent 12 years heading commodity index and agricultural products trading.
Deshmukh's appointment is noteworthy given his career trajectory bridging major financial institutions. He joined BofA in 2010 as a managing director working on the bank's Quartz risk management platform and later served as co-head of global markets technology architecture. Prior to his BofA tenure, Deshmukh held the position of executive director and global head of equities algorithmic trading technology at JPMorgan—experience directly applicable to Balyasny's substantial equities division, which houses over 60 portfolio managers including founder Dmitry Balyasny. At Balyasny, Deshmukh's responsibilities will span front-office technology across the fund's equities, multi-asset arbitrage, commodities, and fixed income & macro divisions, excluding the systematic strategies group.
The hiring comes as Balyasny capitalizes on strong 2025 performance, during which the fund generated 16.7% returns, surpassing returns from Two Sigma and Schonfeld. The fund's technology recruitment efforts occur amid concurrent leadership transitions in its commodities division. In March 2026, Damien Courvalin, a former Goldman Sachs managing director who had joined Balyasny in 2023 to lead the Commodities Intelligence Group, departed unexpectedly following a reported 3.5% loss during the week through March 6. That same week, traders Toby Sheppard and Max Iakovlev, another ex-Goldman MD, also exited the fund. Courvalin had spent 16 years at Goldman as the firm's combined head of energy research and commodities strategist, while Iakovlev had previously held MD-level positions at the investment bank. Despite Courvalin's higher market profile, he reported to Dan Deighton, who remains as Balyasny's overall head of global commodities and joined the fund in 2022 from Goldman, where he spent 12 years heading commodity index and agricultural products trading.
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