Barclays' 21-year old macro traders and the hedge fund jobs conveyor belt

If you're a 22 year old recent university graduate who wants to be a macro portfolio manager with a hedge fund, may we suggest Barclays as your training ground. 

The British bank's London macro desk seems like a fun place to work. It also seems like the sort of place that people leave and then get great jobs elsewhere. 

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The latest to fit this description is Ben Atlas. Atlas joined Barclays' London macro desk aged 21 after graduating in philosophy from the University of Cambridge. There, he is understood to have been one of the good guys among Barclays' group of other good people. Nonetheless, he left again for DRW aged 23. Then he joined BlueCrest as a senior portfolio manager aged circa 27. And now, at the mere age of 30 Atlas is reportedly joining ExodusPoint where he is building a team that will manage $1bn. 

Sounds like Atlas might be a rare talent. But he is not the only ex-Barclays macro trader to tread the path. Ben Turner, a 26 year-old junior from Barclays' sterling rates desk, joined BlueCrest as a partner in May. Turner is thought to be one of the best young traders in London.

BlueCrest founder Mike Platt clearly likes to hire Barclays young traders for his own benefit, but the leaky juniors in the macro team are less good news for Barclays. 

Barclays declined to comment for this article, but sources say its broader team has experienced various exits, including Daniel Leon Jimenez (FX options), Amogh Prabhakar (treasury), Liam Webster and Kushwant Mussai (both emerging markets macro). Prabhakar is thought to be going to JPMorgan, but maybe the others will yet become big portfolio managers too. 

What could Barclays do to make its talented juniors stick around? Maybe pay more? Although the bank is said by headhunters to be generous, there are whispers of uncertainty about the coming bonus round after fixed income sales and trading revenues there rose only 1.2% year-on-year in the first half. 

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