Weekly round - up

Sean Gambino leaves Eisler to launch own hedge fund

Sean Gambino, who closed his hedge firm in 2022 to join Eisler Capital, is leaving Eisler to start his own venture, Baypointe, according to Bloomberg. Eisler, currently managing around $4 billion is expected to invest in Gambino's new fund.

Before joining Eisler, Gambino managed about $400 million at Heron Bay. Despite often having a net short position on equities, Heron Bay achieved an average annual return of 18.6% since its launch in June 2015. In comparison, other equity long-short hedge funds tracked by Bloomberg had an average annual gain of 3.5% over the same period.

Hong Kong hedge fund Torq Capital winds down as founder heads for Citadel

Hong Kong based hedge fund Torq Capital Management is shutting down after more than seven years in business. Avinash Abraham, the founder and chief investment officer, is moving to Citadel, according to reports.

Torq, a market neutral fund focusing on Asian equities, was started in 2016 by Abraham, who previously led Asia for Balyasny Asset Management and worked as a portfolio manager at Citadel. Citadel, one of the world's largest and most profitable hedge funds, revealed that Abraham will join its Asia fundamental equities team as a portfolio manager later this year. Torq, initially seeded by Alibaba Group Holding co-founder Joe Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital, grew to manage over $1.5 billion at its peak. Citadel, founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, has significantly expanded its staff in Asia, reaching around 200 employees since 2019.

Two Citadel Money Managers Exit Hedge Fund, Shapiro Rejoins

Two portfolio managers from Citadel are departing the hedge fund, while another is returning. Matthew Carter-Tracy, previously responsible for energy portfolios at Citadel's fundamental equities division, Surveyor Capital, and Joseph DiGiacomo have left, as reported by Bloomberg . Meanwhile, Ben Shapiro is due to start at Citadel as a health care portfolio manager in May.

Crypto hedge funds soared in 2023

In 2023, hedge funds rebounded into positive territory, although their overall gains trailed behind the U.S. stock market. This contrasted with the previous year, 2022 when hedge funds outperformed the stock market amid heightened volatility, as reported by MarketWatch.

HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, showed a gain of 7.5% last year, recovering from a 4.1% decline in 2022. In comparison, the S&P 500 index experienced a 24.2% surge in 2023, bouncing back from a 19.4% drop the year before.

The HFR Cryptocurrency Index saw significant gains, rising by 65.8% last year as bitcoin prices recovered. However, HFR does not include this strategy in its composite index measuring the overall performance of the hedge fund industry. This exclusion is due to the "intense volatility" of cryptocurrencies and the fact that it's a relatively new area that the firm has only been tracking since 2017, according to the report.