Hedge fund Balyasny is amassing new people to keep a handle on its international business

It’s a difficult year for many hedge funds and this includes Balyasny Asset Management, which was down 2.7% after fees in the year to September and then another 3.4% (before fees) in October.

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Balyasny’s bad year comes after Balyasny’s big hiring. Last year, it added 157 investment staff globally and 371 people in total. Its most recently filed ADV form reveals 192 London staff in investment advisory functions and 60 and 61 in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively.

As Balyasny grows internationally, it’s putting guardrails in place. As we noted earlier this week, it’s hired Risa Lederhandler from Goldman Sachs as its first ever COO for Europe. Bloomberg reported Lederhandler’s hiring in May, but it seems she has only just arrived. She will sit on Balyasny’s management committee. 

Lederhandler is not Balyasny’s only management hire. The fund has also hired Andrew Tsai from PDT Partners as CEO of its international business. This also appears to be a new role, and will also be based in London. Tsai has also just arrived. 

And in Hong Kong, Balyasny is understood to have a new Asia COO starting next week in the form of Aleem Jivraj, the former COO for global markets at Nomura.

Balyasny declined to comment for this article. The new hires reflect the need for greater structure as Balyasny increases headcount. In what has been a challenging year for the firm so far, they may also reflect a desire for greater scrutiny of costs. 

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