18/01/2012 Author: Will Wainewright

Graham Capital to expand with new London office move

Graham Capital, a $7.3bn macro hedge fund, is set to move into a new London base later this year and will be significantly increasing headcount following its relocation to the Baker Street site, in a major boost for the city’s hedge fund industry, HFMWeek has learned.  

Ken Tropin, who founded the Connecticut-based fund manager in 1994, said a larger London base was a “strategic decision” which would allow Graham to take on more managers as it builds out its discretionary management business.

Assets managed by the firm, whose current London office employs around 15 staff, are split almost evenly between its discretionary macro fund and its quants strategies.

Graham’s new office can house up to 45 staff and is being vacated by fellow hedge fund Trafalgar Capital Management, now named CapeView Capital, which liquidated its flagship fund last year following redemption requests and is now moving to a new office.

Tropin told HFMWeek that Graham aimed to increase its London headcount to 25 by the end of this year. The US manager has the option to move into the space in May but is unlikely to make the switch until August, he said.

“We have been building our discretionary management business for a long time now and having a bigger London presence allows us to recruit traders who wouldn’t have been able to move to work with us in Connecticut,” said Tropin.

“I was initially dubious about moving to London but now it is clear how much talent is available, we have decided to upsize. The switch will also improve our training capability,” he said.

Graham employs over 200 staff and its discretionary and quants strategies trade across the global fixed income, currency, commodity and equity markets.

“The main reason for the move is to source more discretionary traders, although we will be picking up more quants people too,” he added.

Concluding, he said there were no new launches on the horizon and that the move was purely to bolster its existing offering.