A senior executive at Cubist Systematic Strategies – the quant division of $46bn hedge fund Point72 Asset Management – is leaving the business after a challenging run of performance, according to a report by Business Insider.
Issam Bazzi, who helped develop a centralised trading unit at Cubist, departs following nearly three years at the firm. His team reportedly faced months of losses, including a drawdown of around $70m so far this year.
Bazzi’s exit follows a previous leadership overhaul at Cubist, when president Denis Dancanet left and ex-WorldQuant executive Geoffrey Lauprete took over. Building a centralised trading operation to complement Cubist’s independent pods had been a key initiative under Dancanet, with significant investment made in attracting top quant talent, including Bazzi, a former Citadel Securities and PDT veteran.
Although Bazzi initially remained after negotiating with Steve Cohen last fall, his departure comes amid continued performance pressures. Cubist’s results feed into Point72’s overall returns, which were 4.5% through February, with March starting on a weaker note amid broader market volatility.
Cubist operates alongside roughly 60 other investing teams within Point72, with about two-thirds of the firm’s capital devoted to stock picking and the remainder split between Cubist and macro strategies.
