Key Takeaways
- • Balyasny Asset Management has hired more than 20 people who previously worked at Centrica Energy, the energy trading and transmission arm of Centrica plc based in Aalborg, Denmark, over the past two years, according to eFinancialCareers.
- • The hiring is tied to Balyasny's European gas trading build-out, which began in December 2023.
- • Recent recruits include Ezio Lauro, Centrica's former head of quantitative forward trading, while Thomas Bang, Centrica's former head of trading and new markets, joined as a portfolio manager in 2024.
- • Several hires also worked at rival Norlys Energy Trading; the COO of Norlys's Danish business, Jorgen Aasted, previously worked at both firms.
Summary
Hedge fund Balyasny Asset Management has been building out a European gas trading business since December 2023, and according to eFinancialCareers it has repeatedly recruited from Centrica Energy, the energy trading and transmission arm of Centrica plc based in Aalborg, Denmark. In the past two years, Balyasny has hired more than 20 people who previously worked at Centrica Energy.
The most recent known hire is Ezio Lauro, Centrica's former head of quantitative forward trading. Balyasny declined to comment on his arrival. Thomas Bang, Centrica's former head of trading and new markets, joined the fund as a portfolio manager in 2024 and appears to have facilitated the movement of former colleagues since then. Other key recruits named in the report include Anders B. Ghoul, a senior gas strategist, and Magne Harrild, a gas trader.
Several Balyasny hires have also worked at Centrica and at its rival Danish trading firm Norlys Energy Trading. eFinancialCareers notes that Jorgen Aasted, COO of Norlys's Danish business, previously worked at both firms, which the publication suggests is unlikely to be coincidental.
Additional coverage in the publisher's archive indicates the fund's broader commodities and power push extends beyond Denmark, including a power strategist hire in Singapore and the hiring of Dan Deighton from Goldman Sachs as head of a commodities function, reflecting wider hedge fund demand for natural gas and energy trading talent in Europe.
The most recent known hire is Ezio Lauro, Centrica's former head of quantitative forward trading. Balyasny declined to comment on his arrival. Thomas Bang, Centrica's former head of trading and new markets, joined the fund as a portfolio manager in 2024 and appears to have facilitated the movement of former colleagues since then. Other key recruits named in the report include Anders B. Ghoul, a senior gas strategist, and Magne Harrild, a gas trader.
Several Balyasny hires have also worked at Centrica and at its rival Danish trading firm Norlys Energy Trading. eFinancialCareers notes that Jorgen Aasted, COO of Norlys's Danish business, previously worked at both firms, which the publication suggests is unlikely to be coincidental.
Additional coverage in the publisher's archive indicates the fund's broader commodities and power push extends beyond Denmark, including a power strategist hire in Singapore and the hiring of Dan Deighton from Goldman Sachs as head of a commodities function, reflecting wider hedge fund demand for natural gas and energy trading talent in Europe.
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