07/12/2011 Author: Gwyn Roberts

Falcon COO joins OxFORD Asset Management

Martin Byman, the COO of hotly tipped Falcon Edge Capital and the former co-head of European prime brokerage at Morgan Stanley, has left to take a similar position with Oxford Asset Management.

Oxford, described by one prime broker as “a discreet, but impressive presence” and, by the firm’s own website, as a business that likes to “maintain a low profile”, runs a $1.9bn quantitative fund and has enjoyed sustained performance and growth since its launch in 2004.  Byman, who maintained a prior relationship with OxFORD while at Morgan Stanley, will be the firm’s first full-time COO.

Falcon Edge, which is believed to have already hired a new COO, is scheduled to launch in Q1 2012.  The firm is the product of a partnership between ex-Blue Ridge partner Rick Gerson and Navroz Udwadia, a London-based emerging markets specialist formerly with Eton Park Capital Management. It is “set to be one of the largest launches of 2012”, according to a number of London-based prime brokers.