Eisler Capital's ill-fated head of HR says it was a "formative" experience

When Joanna Hay arrived at Eisler Capital as head of HR in September 2025, she possibly thought she was joining a small but thriving hedge fund that needed to hire a few more people after its key portfolio managers ran away earlier in the year. 

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Instead, Hay says she found herself "supporting the fund through its eventual unwinding." Writing on LinkedIn, Hay says this was "difficult and challenging but turned out to be one of the most positive formative experiences of my career."

Eisler Capital announced its intention to close at the end of September 2025, so Hay presumably had no more than 30 days there before the reality of her role became apparent. She says she and her team approached the process of parting company with Eisler's staff with "rigor and efficiency," and "sustained the high level of operation Eisler Capital was known for."

We haven't spoken to Eisler Capital for this article, but many of its people have since turned up elsewhere. Valdo Durrleman, its second most important strat, has for example, recently resurfaced at Brevan Howard. 

Eisler Capital has sadly become the poster child for multistrategy hedge funds gone wrong. Bloomberg reported that the fund lost 14.3% in its final year. Things deteriorated as the expense of paying portfolio managers on the pass-through model weighed on insipid returns after all the most profitable portfolio managers escaped. Star performer Lewis Morton is now at Taula Capital with "humble" founder Diego Megia instead. Most people left before the end of December and Eisler's fancy London office is now occupied by rival hedge fund Verition, which previously occupied the floor below and could be observed through a glass portal. To the extent that anyone is still working on the wind down, we understand that they are at home. 

Meanwhile, Hay herself has got a new job. She is now head of HR at Helios Investment Partners, an African private investment firm. Other funds thinking of winding down at speed may want to bear her expertise in mind.

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