Taconic Capital Advisors, an $11 billion, New York- and London-based hedge fund firm focused on event-driven, multi strategy investments, has appointed Nate Kempner, a principal and co-chair of the firm’s Investment Committee, as co-chief investment officer, alongside Taconic’s co-founder, Frank Brosens. 

Goldman Sachs has lost another trader to a hedge fund firm, with Rick Vaatsra leaving the bank’s London office this month, to join multi-strategy major Millennium Management as a senior portfolio manager based in London. Vaatsra spent over 10 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as co-head of European index trading, having originally joined the bank as an equity derivatives trader back in November 2012. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Vaatsra, who studied finance and economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, according to his LinkedIn profile, spent over six years at Credit Suisse as a vice president.

Blaine Hurty has been promoted to managing director and head of capital introduction at Clear Street, a New York-based independent, non-bank prime broker, having originally joined the company’s cap intro team as a managing director in October 2022. Prior to joining Clear Street, Hurty spent over seven years at AO Asset Management, a long-short technology, media and telecommunications hedge fund manager, most recently as principal, head of marketing & investor relations. Through its cap intro service, Clear Street supports clients by making introductions to relevant investors who can help grow their funds. 

Alpine Global Management, an investment firm specialising in event-driven trading across global markets, has appointed John Ripley and Arthur Ayzerov as co-chief investment officers, with responsibility for overseeing all investment activities across the firm.

Big name hedge fund firms including Citadel, Balyasny and Millennium are tapping Singapore’s top performing commodities traders as they look to take advantage of the opportunities presented by erratic commodity prices, and in particular oil, according to a report by eFinancial Careers. The latest trader to make a hedge fund switch is Nathan Ohayon who has reportedly left Shell in Singapore after over 11 years with the company, to join Citadel in London, where he will build a new team to trade regional waterborne crude balances.  Ohayon is following in the footsteps of other Singapore-based commodities traders including Hugo Forget

Marathon Asset Management, a global credit investment manager offering hedge funds, managed accounts, single-client funds and collateralised loan, and debt obligation vehicles, has named Ed Cong, who joined the firm 17 years ago, as its newest partner. 

Both Goldman Sachs and Citi have lost senior macro traders to hedge fund firms recently, with Gary Stein joining Millennium from Goldman and Citi’s Karl Abdelnour jumping ship to join Schonfeld, according to a report by eFinancial Careers. New York-based Stein, one of Goldman Sachs’ 2022 class of managing directors, has joined Millennium as a portfolio manager after spending the past seven years at Goldman, most recently as the bank’s head of Latin American FX trading. Prior to Goldman, he was a VP at UBS. Abdelnour, meanwhile, who is also based in New York, has joined Schonfeld, also as a portfolio

Appomattox Advisory Inc, a New York-based Outsourced Chief Investment Officer firm founded in 2005, has appointed Grange Johnson as deputy CIO, focusing on portfolio construction, manager research and business development. 

Nickel Digital Asset Management, a London-based crypto hedge find firm founded by former Goldman Sachs executive director Anatoly Crachilov, has been building out its quant division recently with the addition of two new recruits, according to a report by eFinancial Careers. Kamil Krawczyk, who has spent the last two years as pan executive director in Goldman Sachs’ Warsaw team, has joined Nickel in London, having previously spent five years working across BNP Paribas, HSBC and NatWest. Quant developer Bartłomiej Medygrał meanwhile, has also moved from Poland to the UK to join the firm, having spent the past 10 months working

Preserver Partners LLC, a diverse-owned, and female-led manager of opportunistic multi-strategy funds for institutional and accredited investors through private funds, a separately managed account and a liquid alternative mutual fund, has appointed Caroline Lovelace as chief investment officer.  Lovelace joined Preserver Partners in April 2023. As CIO and co-portfolio manager, she oversees all investments for the firm’s managed portfolios, focusing on portfolio construction, manager selection and risk management.  Prior to joining the firm, she held portfolio manager and director of research roles at Rose Hill Park Alternative Asset Managers, Pine Street Alternative Asset Management, and Provident Group Asset Management. Lovelace