Goldman Sachs EU bond trader quits London to start hedge fund in New York

A senior trader at Goldman Sachs who specialised in European government bonds has quit his job in London to launch a hedge fund in New York.

In what appears to be a departure related to Brexit – and investment banks’ anticipated loss of passporting rights as Theresa May pursues a ‘hard Brexit’ – Pascal Kummert has left the City for the Big Apple.

Kummert was an executive director focused on European government bond trading at Goldman Sachs’ Peterborough Court offices in London. As of this month, he’s the founder and chief investment officer of New York-based hedge fund Calvion Capital.

The new hedge fund uses data analytics and data science technologies to invest in opportunities arising from “high level economic shifts and geopolitical changes around the world”.

Kummert worked at Goldman Sachs for nearly four years, having joined in June 2013 from Morgan Stanley where he was a vice president on its EU sovereign bond and CDS trading desk. He joined Morgan Stanley as an analyst in 2008.

Suffice to say, Goldman Sachs traders making the switch to the buy-side are not uncommon. Roy Schwartz, a managing director in credit trading, joined Berkeley Asset Management as a portfolio manager in January.

However, it’s more unusual for traders to swap the UK for the U.S. in order to do so. Goldman Sachs has hinted that its Brexit-related job losses could be particularly brutal. Reports in German newspaper Handelsblatt suggest that 3,000 jobs could leave London to be dispersed across Goldman’s Frankfurt, New York and Warsaw offices.

European sales teams are more likely to be relocated than traders, according to Goldman insiders, but Kummert’s move suggests that some at least are pre-empting cuts.

Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com