Ralph Shu is set to rejoin Millennium Management as a senior portfolio manager focused on yen rates trading, marking another high-profile move in the increasingly active Japanese government bond trading space, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Shu is returning to Izzy Englander’s $87bn hedge fund after nearly three years at ExodusPoint Capital Management. His Hong Kong regulatory license with the firm expired on May 8, according to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission website.
Millennium and ExodusPoint declined to comment. Shu did not respond to requests for comment.
The move comes as trading activity in Japanese government bonds has surged following a major shift in Bank of Japan policy. After years of yield curve control and ultra-loose monetary settings, the BoJ has begun tightening, raising interest rates from near-zero levels and allowing yields to rise more freely.
JGB yields have continued to climb this year amid growing inflationary pressures and concerns over fiscal sustainability. Markets are now pricing in the possibility of another rate increase as early as June, even as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East add uncertainty to Japan’s export-led recovery outlook.
Shu’s return adds to a growing wave of senior hiring in yen rates and Japanese bond trading, a niche but increasingly competitive area as global macro volatility returns to Japan’s fixed income markets.
Takushi Sawada, formerly a managing director at Nomura Holdings Inc., recently joined BlueCrest Capital Management as a portfolio manager, while Point72 Asset Management has also hired Takahiro Suzuki, the former head of Japanese government bond trading at BNP Paribas SA, for a similar role.
The cluster of moves underscores how a small pool of experienced yen rates traders is being reshuffled among major hedge funds as volatility and policy divergence create renewed opportunities in Japan’s bond market.
