Now hedge fund Balyasny hired Barclays' head of euro swaps trading

Balyasny Asset Management (BAM) is busy hiring this year. One of its many hires is thought to be joining from Barclays in London.

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Multiple sources say that BAM is behind last week's resignation of James Armstrong, a managing director and the head of euro swaps trading at Barclays in London. 

BAM declined to comment. Barclays and Armstrong didn't respond to a request to comment. 

Armstrong spent his entire career at Barclays after joining as an intern in 2012. He's thought to be joining a London pod at Balasny which is run by James Watson, a former lead portfolio manager at Millennium. 

Barclays is also thought to have coincidentally lost Nico Huss from the same team. Huss is thought to have joined Citi, which also declined to comment. 

Barclays is cutting costs, but its rates trading team is an area of focus. Bloomberg noted yesterday that European rates trading is one of the teams mobilized to help boost Barclays' revenues by £500 million by 2026.

Balyasny has made various hires in London and globally in 2025. Other recent recruits include Jamie Mansell, the former head of European government bond trading at Deutsche Bank. 

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