DE Shaw Hiring for Private Equity

Investment firm DE Shaw is on a campaign to strengthen its private equity operations by hiring buyout experts and lawyers. And it appears the first area of interest for the operation is energy.

Financial News says the firm is actively looking for "lawyers and other investment staff," and notes hedge funds usually look for attorneys after their infrastructures are set up and they have numbers of investors to deal with.

In July, Shaw hired Bryan Martin and Richard Aube away from JPMorgan to start the private equity work. Because both Martin and Aube have long experience in energy investing, observers told Financial News their hiring was an indication the energy sector would be the private equity group's early focus.

Shaw includes encompasses a number of closely related entities and has some 1,000 employees in offices in the U.S., London and India.