A top options trader that vanished four years ago is back at hedge fund ExodusPoint

It's Chico time once again.

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Baris 'Chico' Temelkuran, former global head of FX options trading at BNP Paribas, has reemerged after a four and a half year sabbatical. He's joining hedge fund ExodusPoint as a macro portfolio manager, based in London.

He spent three years at BNP, during which the bank won Risk.net's currency derivatives house of the year award in 2021. BNP did not comment at the time of his departure, but sources suggested his exit may not have been entirely voluntary. Before BNP, Chico made his name at Goldman Sachs; he spent 12 years at the bank, joining in 2006 and achieving promotion to MD in 2014. 

Chico may be filling some gaps left by macro portfolio managers being relocated to Dubai. Financial News reported that Driss Mokeddem and James Clarke both relocated there in the latter half of last year.

ExodusPoint pays very well in London. Its most recent yearly accounts via Companies House (for 2024) show that it paid an average of $1.1m for its 110 employees. It had 15 members in its LP, and earned profits equivalent to $9.5m per member. The situation may be even better today; ExodusPoint had an excellent year, returning 18% globally in 2025.

ExodusPoint did not respond to a request for comment.

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