Key Takeaways
- • At least seven of Brevan Howard's 200+ technology staff have departed in the past 18 months, including senior figures such as head of infrastructure John Loendorf, CISO Catherine Garrod, and former CTO Kevin Gage, according to eFinancialCareers.
- • Brevan Howard declined to comment; eFinancialCareers says the reasons for the exits are unclear, and Loendorf, Garrod and Osher are thought to have left recently while the others left last year.
- • The departures coincide with weak performance: the $12bn Alpha Strategies fund was up 6% in the year to August, while the equivalently sized Brevan Howard Master Fund was down 1.4%, per Financial News as cited by eFinancialCareers.
- • The exits follow the hiring of Mike Sanders from JPMorgan as CTO in late 2024, who is opening an office in India, and come as Brevan recently secured a $2bn investment from Abu Dhabi-based Lunate.
Summary
Brevan Howard has lost a number of senior technologists over the past 18 months, according to eFinancialCareers. The firm declined to comment. At least seven of its more than 200 technology staff have left, with some believed to have departed in recent weeks. The list includes John Loendorf, head of infrastructure for the systematic business in New York; Catherine Garrod, London-based chief information security officer; Seth Osher, head of front office macro trading technology; Jon Freedman, head of back and middle office technology; Robert Johnson Perkins, self-described head of front office technology; Subhek Garg, former head of front office quants and technology; and Kevin Gage, former CTO. Loendorf, Garrod and Osher are thought to have left recently, while the others departed last year. Gage said on LinkedIn that he remained at the firm as a partner until April 2025, after joining from Mizuho in late 2022 and serving as CTO for just over a year and a half.
The reasons for the departures are unclear. Brevan hired Mike Sanders from JPMorgan as CTO in late 2024. Sanders is opening an office in India and has hired Joey Allock, a former managing director who, per his LinkedIn profile, ran engineering for the investment banking rather than trading team at Goldman Sachs. Insiders describe a period of change in the technology function. Under Gage, the in-house technology function reportedly expanded to 200 people within about 12 months, and combined layoffs across core business and systematic technology reached 20% in 2024. After Gage's exit, the function was reportedly run by Freedman, Loendorf, Garrod and Osher, with Chris Willis, head of quantitative analysis, reporting directly to CEO Aron Landy. All but Willis have now left.
The firm's turnover is not limited to technology. Eric Wang, a systematic portfolio manager based in Abu Dhabi, has also departed, and Brevan cut underperforming portfolio managers in April 2024 and again in January 2025. Brevan recently secured a $2bn investment from Lunate and is expected to hire. Glassdoor reviews give the firm 2.9 stars, although only 81 reviews have been posted and their representativeness is uncertain.
The reasons for the departures are unclear. Brevan hired Mike Sanders from JPMorgan as CTO in late 2024. Sanders is opening an office in India and has hired Joey Allock, a former managing director who, per his LinkedIn profile, ran engineering for the investment banking rather than trading team at Goldman Sachs. Insiders describe a period of change in the technology function. Under Gage, the in-house technology function reportedly expanded to 200 people within about 12 months, and combined layoffs across core business and systematic technology reached 20% in 2024. After Gage's exit, the function was reportedly run by Freedman, Loendorf, Garrod and Osher, with Chris Willis, head of quantitative analysis, reporting directly to CEO Aron Landy. All but Willis have now left.
The firm's turnover is not limited to technology. Eric Wang, a systematic portfolio manager based in Abu Dhabi, has also departed, and Brevan cut underperforming portfolio managers in April 2024 and again in January 2025. Brevan recently secured a $2bn investment from Lunate and is expected to hire. Glassdoor reviews give the firm 2.9 stars, although only 81 reviews have been posted and their representativeness is uncertain.
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