Key Takeaways
- • Brevan Howard's Abu Dhabi office grew from approximately 50 employees in September 2023 to 90 employees as of April 2024, representing a net addition of 40 staff members over seven months with consistent monthly hiring of approximately five people.
- • The Abu Dhabi team manages $10 billion of Brevan Howard's $35 billion in total assets under management, comprised of portfolio managers, marketing professionals, salespeople, operations staff, and technologists across multiple strategies.
- • The office is strategically positioned to capitalize on time zone advantages, allowing macro portfolio managers to access Asian markets at the start of their trading day and U.S. markets at the end without requiring extended hours, a key recruitment and retention factor.
- • Leadership in Abu Dhabi includes MENA CEO Oualid Lashini, with additional portfolio managers Ville Helske, Louis Basger, Paul Shanta, and Peter Meiklejohn based locally, while Hong Kong and Singapore-based managers visit regularly, indicating a distributed hub model.
- • Brevan Howard is signaling long-term commitment to the Abu Dhabi expansion through the launch of an inaugural summer internship program, despite concurrent global workforce pruning that removed 100 employees in April 2024 and 24 traders in March.
Summary
Brevan Howard, the global macro hedge fund co-founded by Alan Howard, has substantially scaled its Abu Dhabi presence since the office's inception 15 months prior to April 2024. The fund grew its UAE headcount from approximately 50 employees in September 2023 to 90 by April 2024, adding roughly 40 staff across seven months at an average rate of five employees per month. This expansion builds on the firm's initial commitment to establish a Middle East headquarters with capacity for over 100 staff at Al Sarab Tower in the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
The Abu Dhabi office houses a functionally diverse workforce spanning investment and operations. The 90 employees manage $10 billion of Brevan Howard's $35 billion in assets under management and include portfolio managers, marketing professionals, sales staff, operations professionals, and technologists. The office operates under the leadership of Oualid Lashini, designated as Brevan Howard's MENA CEO. Key investment personnel based in Abu Dhabi include portfolio managers Ville Helske, Louis Basger, Paul Shanta, and Peter Meiklejohn, with Hong Kong-based Kaspar Ernst and Singapore-based Minal Bathwal visiting regularly to coordinate strategies.
The geographic positioning of the Abu Dhabi office provides a specific operational advantage for macro portfolio managers. The location straddles Asian and American time zones, enabling traders to execute Asian market strategies at the beginning of their business day and access U.S. markets at the end of the trading session without requiring extended working hours. This geographic arbitrage has become a key recruitment and retention asset for the firm's macro strategies.
Notably, Brevan Howard's Abu Dhabi expansion continues despite concurrent global workforce restructuring. The firm's global headcount expanded from 150 employees in 2019 to 1,100 by April 2024, but the company has begun optimizing staffing levels, with 100 employees terminated in April 2024 (including 20 portfolio managers focused on systematic macro strategies) and approximately 24 traders cut in March 2024. The article does not specify whether the Abu Dhabi office experienced layoffs. However, the fund's signal of long-term commitment to the region remains evident through the establishment of an inaugural summer internship program at the Abu Dhabi location, suggesting selective, sustained investment in the hub despite broader headcount adjustments elsewhere.
The Abu Dhabi office houses a functionally diverse workforce spanning investment and operations. The 90 employees manage $10 billion of Brevan Howard's $35 billion in assets under management and include portfolio managers, marketing professionals, sales staff, operations professionals, and technologists. The office operates under the leadership of Oualid Lashini, designated as Brevan Howard's MENA CEO. Key investment personnel based in Abu Dhabi include portfolio managers Ville Helske, Louis Basger, Paul Shanta, and Peter Meiklejohn, with Hong Kong-based Kaspar Ernst and Singapore-based Minal Bathwal visiting regularly to coordinate strategies.
The geographic positioning of the Abu Dhabi office provides a specific operational advantage for macro portfolio managers. The location straddles Asian and American time zones, enabling traders to execute Asian market strategies at the beginning of their business day and access U.S. markets at the end of the trading session without requiring extended working hours. This geographic arbitrage has become a key recruitment and retention asset for the firm's macro strategies.
Notably, Brevan Howard's Abu Dhabi expansion continues despite concurrent global workforce restructuring. The firm's global headcount expanded from 150 employees in 2019 to 1,100 by April 2024, but the company has begun optimizing staffing levels, with 100 employees terminated in April 2024 (including 20 portfolio managers focused on systematic macro strategies) and approximately 24 traders cut in March 2024. The article does not specify whether the Abu Dhabi office experienced layoffs. However, the fund's signal of long-term commitment to the region remains evident through the establishment of an inaugural summer internship program at the Abu Dhabi location, suggesting selective, sustained investment in the hub despite broader headcount adjustments elsewhere.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.