The other multi-strategy hedge fund on a massive hiring spree
Everyone knows that it's a ferocious time for hedge fund hiring, particularly at the multi-strategy funds. But when people think of the 'multi-strats' they typically focus on the big names like Citadel, Millennium, Balyasny or Point72. They miss out the lesser known funds in the category. Funds like Centiva, Verition and...North Rock Capital Management.
North Rock Capital Management, in particular, has been flying seriously beneath the radar.
"North Rock are hiring people with the best pedigrees," says one hedge fund headhunter, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They are a multi-strategy fund with a core focus on discretionary long-short equity and are well-placed to become a top tier fund."
We didn't speak to North Rock for this article, but its pedigree hiring appetite is validated on social media and by the FCA Register, which shows it employing 36 registered professionals in London, many of whom joined this year.
North Rock's most recent London joiners include recruits from both banks and rival funds. In June, for example, it added Owen Jacob, Jefferies' ex-head of equity principal strategies, as a portfolio manager. In May, it added Killian Hernon from Ovata Capital, as another equities PM. It's also not averse to hiring equity researchers. - Recent research recruits include: Harvey Scriven, a former Lazard associate, to cover healthcare; John Puckhaber from Alvento Capital Partners to cover utilities; and Jimmy Yu Fan from UBS to cover long short equities.
North Rock opened an office in Hong Kong last year, and there are signs of hiring there too. The Hong Kong office is run by Simon Chow, a former prime broker at Credit Suisse and Chow has been building his team. This year's Hong Kong recruits include portfolio managers Edward Grissell (ex-Davidson Kempner) and Junghun Kim (ex-Millennium), plus Michelle Wong (ex-Citadel) as head of operations. There's little sign of love for ex-CS colleagues.
Technology staff may also want to apply to North Rock. The fund recently added David Shen as a new head of database and cloud computing in New York. Shen arrived from Prudential. New York portfolio managers include John Teltsch from Millennium.
North Rock is not a new fund. A subsidiary of Lighthouse Investment Partners, it was launched in 2013 and is based in Palm Beach. It has $4.5bn in assets under management and 51 portfolio managers running teams. The London office, on Pall Mall, was redecorated in 2020. It is not to be confused with Northern Rock.
Unlike some multi-strategy hedge funds, recruiters say North Rock can be happy to cut staff some slack when they don't perform well from the outset. This may, however, be at the expense of pay: accounts for the year ending June 2022 show eight partners sharing $4m last year.
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