Last time we wrote about Miami hedge funds, it was November 2025 and New York hedge fund managers were saying things like: “When my kids grow up, I’m moving to Miami.” Six months later, things have changed. Portfolio managers might be inclined to move sooner. Or not.
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The main change is that Zohran Mamdani, the New York Mayor, made a video of himself standing outside Ken Griffin’s $238m New York penthouse. Mamdani called out Griffin by name as deserving of New York’s pied-a-terre tax designed for the “richest of the rich” in a “fundamentally unfair system.”
Griffin, founder of hedge fund Citadel, said he watched the video, which is accompanied by edgy violins, three times and found it “really creepy” and “frightening.” He now plans to add far more jobs to Citadel’s Miami office as a direct result of Mamdani’s comments. “[He] put me in harm’s way,” Griffin said to CNBC of the video.
While Griffin is done with New York, portfolio managers in the city are not so sure. We didn’t speak to any Citadel portfolio managers (PM) for this article, but senior PMs at rival firms told us they won’t be moving to the Floridian city anytime soon. “Miami is a place for name dropping, car dropping, money dropping, jet dropping, wine dropping,” said one loyal New Yorker. “It’s full of nouveau riche types. The flashy shallow financial crowd.” Another observed that Miami is not what people think. “The crime, homelessness and smell of weed are too much to bear.”
A spokesman for Citadel said: “Miami is a world-class city and an exceptional place to build a business and grow a career. It is the center of gravity for our senior leadership and home to more than 400 colleagues. We are excited about the progress we’ve made on our headquarters building and could not be more thrilled about our future in Miami.”
This may be so, but Miami is not where Citadel’s investment-focused staff are to be found. A recently filed regulatory form says Citadel currently has 576 investment staff in New York, and only 47 in Miami.
Reflecting its commitment to New York, Citadel relocated from 350 to 660 Park Avenue last year and is in the process of redeveloping 350 Park Avenue at a cost of $6bn. Following Mamdani’s comments, Griffin said the redevelopment of 350 has become a “real topic of debate” within the firm, but that it’s still going ahead.
Griffin himself has said that Miami feels safe relative to Chicago and that Mamdani’s comments have caused him relive the trauma he felt about crime in Chicago, but in relation to New York. However, New York hedge fund managers we spoke to insisted they felt safer in the American north than in Miami. “There’s a lot of poverty and high crime in Miami,” said one, who is familiar with the city. “Ken Griffin has enough money to build himself a bubble. Not everyone can do that.”
The notion that the average hedge fund manage is unable to shield him or herself from crime may seem exaggerated, but the senior portfolio manager we spoke to insisted it’s real. “99% of people are priced-out of Miami,” he said. “Say I make $10m a year. 55% of that goes in tax in New York. In Miami, I save 7% in state tax, but private schools are a must there and the money I save goes on them. At the end of the day, I might save a few $100k but I’m in an isolated place miles from my family and network.”
Instead of Miami, he said most hedge fund managers prefer Connecticut.
Speaking last month, Jim Esposito, the ex-Goldman Sachs partner who is president of Citadel Securities, said that in Citadel’s electronic trading arm at least, there are now “two hubs:” New York and Miami. Some of Citadel Securities’ New York based people don’t want to move to Miami because their kids are in school, acknowledged Esposito.
Claude Schwab, a hedge fund recruiter who places PMs in Miami, says schooling and safety in Miami are less of an issue there than most people believe. “Top public schools suddenly have places open through the school choice lottery,” says Schwab. He adds that many hedge fund professionals live in areas like Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, or between Brickell and Coconut Grove.
Citadel expects to grow its Miami headcount organically in the future. Despite Mamdani’s comments, many New York portfolio managers want to stay put. One says New York could improve as people migrate south. “With that crowd migrating to Miami, New York actually might get pleasant again!”
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