Bridgewater Associates is planning to cap the size of its flagship hedge funds, invest more in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and cut up to 100 jobs, as part of a restructuring plan aimed at boosting returns, increasing profitability and developing new sources of revenue, according to a report by Bloomberg.
CEO Nir Bar Dea, who took over running the business after founder Ray Dalio stepped down five months ago, disclosed the changes in an email on Wednesday to employees and clients, shifts that he said were necessary to “align with our strategic direction.”
In the email Bar Dea said: “Our reality now is that we are simultaneously in an exciting time given the opportunities ahead, and a painful one as we need to part ways with great teammates who have been on the journey with us.”
While the email did not specify the number of job cuts, according to Bloomberg, Bridgewater is looking at cutting about 100 positions, or 8% its 1,300-strong workforce.
Bar Dea went on to say: “We are pro-actively restricting access to Pure Alpha (the firm’s flagship strategy), setting it up to overdeliver via a higher expected ratio. Our nearly three-year track record (since mid-2020 when we established the Investment Committee) has demonstrated our ability to perform at full size. We want to raise the probability of sustained outperformance and focus on delivering a more exceptional product to our clients in our core business.”
According to Bloomberg, the strategy will be capped at 20% to 30% below its maximum size, which peaked at about $100 billion over the past decade.
Bar Dea also said that Bridgewater had, “assigned members of our leadership team to work on plans for commercializing our edge in compounded understanding via AI and machine learning, growing our Asia footprint via further expansion in Singapore and materially deepening our solutions in sustainability and long-only equities.”
