The head of central risk book trading at J.P. Morgan has re-emerged at hot Credit Suisse quant fund

Marco Dion, the head of the central risk book trading for equities in Europe at J.P. Morgan who left in April, has re-emerged at a high-profile quant fund run buy former Credit Suisse quants and prop traders.

Dion, who spent 10 years at J.P. Morgan until his departure earlier this year, has just been hired into a senior role at Qube, the $1bn systematic hedge fund being spun out of Credit Suisse's asset management business. Most of Qube's team has transferred out of Credit Suisse, so Dion's recruitment is a rare example of an external hire at the fund, which has around 100 people across offices in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Mumbai. He's also, according the Financial Conduct Authority, the only new London-based hire for the fund this year.

Qube heralds from Credit Suisse's Systematic Market-Making Group (SMG), a quantitative prop trading unit that CEO Tijane Thiam moved into the bank's asset management division in 2016. Traders from the SMG are spinning out into two funds - Qube, and the QT Fund, which is based in New York and run by former Credit Suisse MD Nick Branca. Qube began the separation from Credit Suisse earlier this year, with the majority of the firm sold to its management team, which is led by Pierre-Yves Morlat, the former head of proprietary trading for Europe and Asia at the bank.

Dion ran the central risk book trading desk at J.P. Morgan in Europe, a key function that allows the bank to oversee all the risk and hedges across the division. He took the role in 2014 after nearly seven years as J.P. Morgan's global head of equity quant strategy. He had six months out over the summer before taking his new role earlier this month.

Working in central risk book trading is supposed to be a hot area of banking to work in and demand is high. As we reported earlier, it's as close as many traders will get to proprietary trading after the Volcker rule forced banks close down these activities. It's essentially "quantitative systematic trading across multiple asset classes", according to one headhunter, and banks are fighting over the best people.

However, senior traders in these roles keep quitting the sell-side for hedge funds. Dariusz Kowalewski, a senior quant in Citi’s equities division, left earlier this month, while  Paul Jefferys, the head of central risk book at UBS, left for Citadel in April. Dion's departure from J.P. Morgan was first reported by Financial News.

Dion, alongside fellow J.P. Morgan analyst Matthew Burgess, developed a quant model that crunched football statistics and predicted that England would win the 2010 World Cup. They lost 4-1 to Germany in the second round.

Contact for news, tips and comments: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com

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