Key Takeaways
- • Walleye Capital delivered 11.4% year-to-date returns through early September 2024, with an exceptional 3.4% gain in August alone, outperforming larger multi-strategy peers including Citadel, Millennium, and Balyasny on a monthly basis.
- • The firm executed two separate rounds of job cuts in 2024 (March and August), removing senior investment leaders including global macro and fixed income head Raj Sethi and global head of equity capital markets Michael Martin, while simultaneously recruiting talent from competitor hedge funds.
- • Walleye hired at least 10 new portfolio managers over a six-month period, with over 50% sourced from competing multi-strategy funds including Millennium, Point72, and Verition, signaling an aggressive talent acquisition strategy despite recent headcount reductions.
- • New hires span specialized investment disciplines: equities talent (Akshat Goel from Millennium, Bryan Wren from Surveyor Capital, Peter Horner from Citadel Securities); volatility expertise (Rupert Graham, formerly WorldQuant head of options; Atak Kara from Verition); and quantitative capabilities (Daniel Gershenson from Susquehanna International Group, Brad Lloyd from Capstone).
- • Rory Murphy, a portfolio manager from Citadel, was elevated to lead Walleye's global capital markets team, replacing departing executive Michael Martin and indicating management's focus on rebuilding institutional capital markets capabilities.
Summary
Walleye Capital is delivering strong performance despite executing a significant strategic restructuring that combines targeted job reductions with aggressive recruitment of specialized investment talent. The multi-strategy hedge fund generated an 11.4% return year-to-date through early September 2024, with August's 3.4% monthly return representing best-in-class performance among its established competitors—surpassing returns delivered by Citadel, Millennium, and Balyasny during the same period.
The firm conducted two separate reduction rounds in 2024. In March, Walleye cut its head of global macro and fixed income, Raj Sethi. A second round in August removed Michael Martin, the global head of equity capital markets. Rather than broadly reducing headcount, Walleye's approach appears calibrated to eliminate underperforming or misaligned senior leaders while simultaneously reconstructing investment teams with external hires from rival funds. This strategy suggests management's confidence in specific market opportunities and dissatisfaction with existing team performance in certain areas.
Walleye's hiring acceleration demonstrates aggressive talent poaching across multiple investment disciplines. Over the past six months, the firm brought on at least 10 new portfolio managers, with more than half recruited directly from competing multi-strategy hedge funds. Equity-focused hires included Akskat Goel (from Millennium in August), Bryan Wren (from Surveyor Capital, also August), Peter Horner (from Citadel Securities), and Jonathan Gordon (from Millennium in July and June respectively). The volatility trading desk expanded significantly with the addition of Rupert Graham, formerly WorldQuant's head of options and ex-head of European options at Citadel Securities, who joined as a systematic volatility portfolio manager in Zug. Atak Kara, a volatility trader from Verition's London office, and Andrew Koh John, a former Adams Wealth Advisors portfolio manager, also joined the volatility team. Quantitative talent included Daniel Gershenson from Susquehanna International Group (July) and Brad Lloyd from Capstone (May), based in New York and London respectively.
Leadership elevated Rory Murphy, a Citadel portfolio manager, to head its global capital markets team—directly replacing the departing Martin. This appointment underscores management's determination to restore institutional capital markets capabilities after the August departure of its previous lead. The combination of recent strong returns and visible talent investments across equities, volatility, and quant strategies suggests Walleye is positioning itself for sustained multi-strategy outperformance, particularly in an environment where specialized expertise in derivatives and systematic approaches command premium valuations.
The firm conducted two separate reduction rounds in 2024. In March, Walleye cut its head of global macro and fixed income, Raj Sethi. A second round in August removed Michael Martin, the global head of equity capital markets. Rather than broadly reducing headcount, Walleye's approach appears calibrated to eliminate underperforming or misaligned senior leaders while simultaneously reconstructing investment teams with external hires from rival funds. This strategy suggests management's confidence in specific market opportunities and dissatisfaction with existing team performance in certain areas.
Walleye's hiring acceleration demonstrates aggressive talent poaching across multiple investment disciplines. Over the past six months, the firm brought on at least 10 new portfolio managers, with more than half recruited directly from competing multi-strategy hedge funds. Equity-focused hires included Akskat Goel (from Millennium in August), Bryan Wren (from Surveyor Capital, also August), Peter Horner (from Citadel Securities), and Jonathan Gordon (from Millennium in July and June respectively). The volatility trading desk expanded significantly with the addition of Rupert Graham, formerly WorldQuant's head of options and ex-head of European options at Citadel Securities, who joined as a systematic volatility portfolio manager in Zug. Atak Kara, a volatility trader from Verition's London office, and Andrew Koh John, a former Adams Wealth Advisors portfolio manager, also joined the volatility team. Quantitative talent included Daniel Gershenson from Susquehanna International Group (July) and Brad Lloyd from Capstone (May), based in New York and London respectively.
Leadership elevated Rory Murphy, a Citadel portfolio manager, to head its global capital markets team—directly replacing the departing Martin. This appointment underscores management's determination to restore institutional capital markets capabilities after the August departure of its previous lead. The combination of recent strong returns and visible talent investments across equities, volatility, and quant strategies suggests Walleye is positioning itself for sustained multi-strategy outperformance, particularly in an environment where specialized expertise in derivatives and systematic approaches command premium valuations.
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