A popular ex-Barclays MD is priming a new hedge fund launch

A former managing director (MD) at Barclays who left in 2017 in search of “new challenges” has found one. Johnny Wu, who grew into one of the more senior member of Barclays' U.S. equities business, is now the CEO and managing member of Plinth Capital, which will launch its first fund later in 2019.

Wu had worked at Barclays for over a decade before voluntarily moving on two years ago. He spent a year as a principal at Mariner Investment Group in Connecticut before putting together his latest venture at Plinth Capital, which he said will focus on “volatility arbitrage strategies” and partner with investment banks on alternative risk transfer opportunities, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Wu was known as one of the more popular MDs at Barclays in New York. An equity derivatives salesman by trade, he joined Barclays in NYC from Bear Stearns in 2005 as an equity structured products assistant director as the British bank built out its U.S. equity linked instruments team. He became an MD in 2009 and was promoted to equities and funds structured sales for the Americas in 2014. 

Around the time of his exit, Wu published a blog post with some tips on how he found success on Wall Street, namely trying to be a good boss. “Acknowledge your stars - Even the prom queen needs to be reminded she is pretty once in a while,” he wrote at the time. Wu didn’t immediately return a request for comment on his new role.

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