Point72 poached a junior Citadel trader and a junior RBC analyst

It may be August (just) but this hasn't dissuaded hedge fund Point72 from continuing with its hiring drive. The hedge fund, which was founded by veteran trader Steve Cohen, has hired a former junior natural gas trader from Citadel, and a former financials equity researcher from RBC Capital Markets.

Chris Weiss, who spent fourteen months at Citadel after graduating from Cambridge University with a PhD in econometrics, is joining Point72's discretionary global macro team in September. A specialist in forecasting methodology research, Weiss is understood to be joining Peter Williams' global macro team as a quant analyst. Williams himself joined Point72 in June 2018 after three years at Balyasny and seven years at Goldman Sachs.

Point72's other unseasonal hire has a brief history as an investment banker. Elliott Broadbent spent a year as a financial institutions group (FIG) banker at RBC Capital Markets before swapping into diversified financials equity research. 20 months later, he too has just joined Point72 as a long/short equity analyst.

Point72 is building out is London office after accepting outside money and moving to larger premises earlier this year. Weiss and Williams aren't the only recent additions. In May, the fund hired Robert Tazelaar from Balyasny Asset Management as a portfolio manager. In April it hired Alessandro Gren, a former vice president in J.P. Morgan's natural resources group, as an analyst.

As we noted in April, figures released during a gender discrimination case being brought against Point72 by a former HR executive suggest the fund pays very well indeed. Senior recruiters there can allegedly earn $700k+ and 80% of bonuses are reportedly paid in cash.

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