Global trading powerhouses – including hedge fund major Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s market-making business Citadel Securities – are significantly expanding their footprints in India’s rapidly growing derivatives arena, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The expansion has triggered a fierce talent war and spurred major exchange technology upgrades.
The report cites unnamed executives and recruiters as saying that Citadel Securities has quietly boosted its capital commitment in Mumbai, aggressively hiring traders despite maintaining a lean team. Millennium, meanwhile, is scaling its India desk out of its Dubai and Singapore hubs to tap local market opportunities.
High-frequency specialists IMC Trading and Optiver are also in growth mode, with IMC planning to expand its team by over 50% to more than 150 staff by the end of 2026, while Optiver aims to reach 100 India-based employees by year-end. London’s Qube Research and Amsterdam’s Da Vinci are likewise recruiting quant talent.
This influx has lifted salaries – junior traders now command more than twice the pay of three years ago – and prompted top recruiters like Aquis Search to estimate demand for some 300 hires across trading, technology, risk, and compliance functions over two years.
With India generating nearly 60% of global equity derivatives volumes in April, the hiring boom has exchanges racing to expand co-location capacity. The NSE will add 2,000 racks over two years, and the BSE plans 500 by March 2026, meeting demand for microsecond execution.
