In what has been billed to be the year of macro, hedge funds are taking diverging paths on the sector.
This year is set to be full of consequential elections and weighty central bank decisions, providing traders betting on macroeconomic themes a chance to prove their worth. The correct bet on interest-rate hikes, for example, could lead to a windfall, as Chris Rokos has already proved this year when the correct call on the Federal Reserve's moves netted his fund more than $1 billion in profits.
Several funds, though, have cut back on head count in the space already this year.
Two people familiar with the changes told Business Insider that Jaime Villa, Schonfeld's head of macro research, is no longer with the asset manager. Villa, a longtime macro strategist with stops at firms like Pimco, KKR, and Brazilian asset manager SPX Capital, was based in Schonfeld's London office and had been a part of the build-out of the macro unit under sector co-heads Colin Lancaster and Mitesh Parikh.
A source close to the firm said Jerome Saragoussi, a senior macro strategist who joined from Eisler last year, is taking on Villa's responsibilities from New York.
Walleye Capital has gotten out of the discretionary macro game altogether, cutting Raj Sethi, who led the division, according to Bloomberg, though the Minnesota-based firm still has quant teams focused on macro bets.
And despite the popularity the strategy might have with allocators at the moment, funds are still quick to cut underperformers. Brevan Howard, one of the biggest macro players in the world, cut dozens of investors earlier this month after its biggest loss on record in February.
On the other side of the spectrum, Steve Cohen's Point72 has been on a macro hiring spree for years now. Led by former Millennium executive Mo Grimeh, the Stamford-based firm's macro team is now more than 50 teams, according to Bloomberg — a five-fold increase from when Grimeh joined in 2020. Another five portfolio managers joined the firm in March.
Meanwhile, Houston-based energy trader Pan Capital is looking for macro traders for its new multi-strategy fund, which is run out of New York. The fund launched with two macro portfolio managers who run a part of the $175 million the multi-strategy offering now has under management, a source close to the firm noted.
Former Walleye business development director Brett Gardocki — now at Pan Capital in a similar role — is looking to hire more, a LinkedIn posting notes. The job posting is listed for New York, but the fund is also planning to open a Hong Kong office at the end of the year and has plans to hire macro PMs in that market as well.
