Key Takeaways
- • Arini Capital Management, founded by Hamza Lemssouguer four years ago, manages $12 billion in assets with 80% deployed in performing credits and achieved a 17% return through August 2025.
- • The London-based credit hedge fund hired Hassan Ajakane as equity derivatives portfolio manager from DRW to strengthen its hedging capabilities and manage credit exposure protection.
- • Ajakane brings nine years of experience from Morgan Stanley and joins an organization paying its 49 London staff an average of $1.3 million per head across approximately 100 global employees.
- • Arini expanded aggressively in 2025, opening an Abu Dhabi office in September led by Jeysson Abergel (former BlackRock leveraged finance head) and hiring catastrophe bond specialist Shang Wei Ye for dedicated cat bond portfolio management.
- • The fund's leadership and recent hires reflect a strategic build-out of specialized risk management and hedging infrastructure to support its credit-focused investment thesis.
Summary
Arini Capital Management, the London-based credit hedge fund founded four years ago by former Credit Suisse trading prodigy Hamza Lemssouguer, is expanding its portfolio management and hedging capabilities amid strong performance. According to Bloomberg reporting, the fund manages $12 billion in assets with 80% allocated to performing credits and generated a 17% return through August 2025. The firm's growth trajectory and compensation levels—averaging $1.3 million per head for its 49 London-based staff—reflect aggressive expansion and competitive talent acquisition in the alternative investment space.
The headline hire is Hassan Ajakane, who joined Arini as an equity derivatives portfolio manager from DRW's London office. Ajakane's addition strengthens the fund's hedging infrastructure, with his team tasked specifically with hedging Arini's credit exposure. His appointment follows nearly nine years at Morgan Stanley, where he developed substantial derivatives expertise. This move signals Arini's commitment to building institutional-grade risk management alongside its core credit strategy.
The fund's organizational expansion extends beyond London. In September 2025, Arini opened an Abu Dhabi office led by Jeysson Abergel, formerly head of leveraged finance trading at BlackRock and a long-standing protégé of Lemssouguer. Concurrently, Arini hired Shang Wei Ye, a specialist in catastrophe bonds, to manage a dedicated cat bond portfolio—indicating portfolio diversification into alternative credit strategies. The organization employs approximately 100 staff globally.
Lemssouguer's leadership team reflects a distinctly international composition, with several key executives sharing French nationality alongside him and macro hedging head Ardacan Celebi. The fund's rapid talent acquisition across multiple specialist domains—equity derivatives, macro hedging, leveraged finance, and catastrophe bonds—underscores a strategic pivot toward multi-asset credit and derivatives capabilities, positioning Arini to scale its $12 billion platform while maintaining sophisticated hedging and risk controls.
The headline hire is Hassan Ajakane, who joined Arini as an equity derivatives portfolio manager from DRW's London office. Ajakane's addition strengthens the fund's hedging infrastructure, with his team tasked specifically with hedging Arini's credit exposure. His appointment follows nearly nine years at Morgan Stanley, where he developed substantial derivatives expertise. This move signals Arini's commitment to building institutional-grade risk management alongside its core credit strategy.
The fund's organizational expansion extends beyond London. In September 2025, Arini opened an Abu Dhabi office led by Jeysson Abergel, formerly head of leveraged finance trading at BlackRock and a long-standing protégé of Lemssouguer. Concurrently, Arini hired Shang Wei Ye, a specialist in catastrophe bonds, to manage a dedicated cat bond portfolio—indicating portfolio diversification into alternative credit strategies. The organization employs approximately 100 staff globally.
Lemssouguer's leadership team reflects a distinctly international composition, with several key executives sharing French nationality alongside him and macro hedging head Ardacan Celebi. The fund's rapid talent acquisition across multiple specialist domains—equity derivatives, macro hedging, leveraged finance, and catastrophe bonds—underscores a strategic pivot toward multi-asset credit and derivatives capabilities, positioning Arini to scale its $12 billion platform while maintaining sophisticated hedging and risk controls.
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