Cheyne Capital raids the ranks of poker-playing hedge fund manager

Cheyne Capital, one of London’s most seasoned hedge funds, has swooped on senior employees of Meditor Capital Management, the $3bn fund that closed its European equities fund in December.

Martin Glen, a portfolio manager overseeing the deals desk at Meditor, and Pierre Di Maria, a portfolio manager at the hedge fund, joined Cheyne as partners in April, according to regulatory filings.

Cheyne Capital was launched in 2000 and now runs around $6.5bn across multiple strategies including event-driven investing, high yield, equities, credit and real estate debt.

For a company with just 61 FCA-registered employees it’s been indulging in a spot of hiring this year. As well as Glen and Di Maria, it also brought in David Darmouni in April, who was formerly a partner at Portman Square Capital, the hedge fund set up in 2012 by the ex-head of prop trading at Citigroup, Sutesh Sharma.

Meditor closed its European equities fund in December due to new restrictions on short-selling, including transaction taxes and lower liquidity, it said at the time. Since then, headcount has shrunk from 18 people to just four.

It was launched by Talal Shakerchi in 1998 and posted net annualised returns of 13% before the closure of its main funds. Shakerchi said he was going to spend more time on philanthropy, something he is well-known for along with his high-stakes poker playing. In May last year, he reportedly lost $1.4m playing in the European Poker Tour finals in Monte Carlo, but has also won over $1.7m in previous competitions.

Glen worked at Meditor for nine years, analysing the IPO and follow-on market and developing relationships with investment banks’ equity capital markets and syndicate divisions. Previously, he worked in sales at Jefferies in London.

Di Maria spent two years at Lehman Brothers before joining Highbridge Capital in November 2007. He joined Meditor in April 2009.