Capula Investment Management pays boss $34.2m, increases pay and staff

Capula Investment Management paid its managing partner Yan Huo £23.4m ($34.2m) in 2015 – nearly £6m more than 2014 – after profits at the partnership increased by 17.6% over the past year.

Capula, which has a reputation for paying well and luring senior traders across from investment banks, made £76.5m in the 12 months to 31 March 2015, according to newly-released accounts.

Once Huo’s pay is taken out, the remaining 25 partners at the firm still earned an average of £2.1m, up from £1.9m last year.

Capula has been on something of a hiring spree.

It brought in portfolio manager Matt Isherwood shortly before Christmas, but also hired David Sabotka, the former head of FICC trading at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who ostensibly retired in 2014. Headcount has generally been on the rise.

Across the world, Capula appears to be spending more on staff. In the UK, it paid out an average of £302.9k per employee, up from £251.5k in 2014, and increased headcount from 97 people to 102.

It employed 39 people in portfolio management roles, 9 in research and 57 in administration positions in March 2015.

Capula also appears to be investing more in staff outside of its home market. It allocated £34m to its Asian operation in 2015 (up from £25m in 2014) and £12.9m to its U.S. division (up from £11.9m).

Photo: lzf/istock/Thinkstock