Meet the U.S. hedge fund hiring from Citi and MS in London

A hard Brexit may be coming, but one U.S. hedge fund hasn't been put off the London market: Chicago-based Balyasny Asset Management has increased its registered headcount in London by 19% since the result to the referendum was announced.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority register reveals that Bayasny now has 56 registered employees in the UK, up from 48 last July. Many of the hires come from leading investment banks.

Balyasny's most recent recruit, Simon Mangin, joins from Citi, where he was an associate on the investment bank's TMT team. Earlier this month it registered Daryl Lee, a former FX and rates trader at Morgan Stanley. In April, it hired Robert Banham, an equities trader from rival hedge fund Marshall Wace. In March it hired Mukhtar Garadaghi, an equity researcher, also from Citi. This followed the addition of Jeremy Andre, a Goldman fund derivatives trader in February.

Balyasny didn't rank in the top ten when we asked people which hedge funds they want to work for, but maybe it should've? Founded in 2001 by Dmitry Balyasny, the fund doubled its assets under management last year to around $12.1bn. Headcount globally has increased dramatically in the past two years as Balyasny builds a fund of diverse strategies. Recent recruits in London suggests its not averse to hiring from banks.

Balyasny didn't immediately respond to a request to comment on his future recruitment intentions. The most recently available accounts for Balyasny Europe are for the year ending December 2015. They show the fund making a £29m profit and paying 37 staff a combined £19m - averaging £513k each. The highest paid person there got £4.2m that year.

Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com

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