Where have Eisler's portfolio managers gone?
Edward Eisler with his wife, Maryam, in 2015. A decade later, his hedge fund was preparing to close its doors.
From multi-strategy hedge funds to macro giants, some of Eisler Capital's most-experienced portfolio managers have found new homes within six months of the firm's closure.
Balyasny, Millennium, Brevan Howard and Verition are among those hiring talent from the crisis-hit hedge fund amid a growing talent war in the $5tn industry.
Balyasny hired former Eisler Capital portfolio manager Alexander Alekseev as a money manager in September. The firm also recruited ex-Eisler money managers Nikolaos Rapanos and Akshat Shrivastava in December.
Brevan Howard has also grabbed multiple Eisler portfolio managers in the past few months, including Kumar Velayudham in November, Alberto Fabbri in December and Benjamin Spielman in January.
Eisler portfolio manager New firm Akshat Shrivastava Balyasny Puneet Sethi Millennium Yves Masselin Verition Benjamin Spielman Brevan Howard Tim Hayes Hartree Alberto Fabbri Brevan Howard Panos Yiasoumi BlueCrest Nikolaos Rapanos Balyasny Kumar Velayudham Brevan Howard Amar Bhachoo Peel Hunt Alexander Alekseev Balyasny Matt Goldman Verition David Fine ExodusPoint Abhishek Ghose Graham
"Eisler hired very strong talent, so the portfolio managers who secured seats were always going to land well. The situation simply accelerated the process," said Colin McGhee, founder and managing director at hedge fund recruitment firm Paragon Alpha.
Eisler Capital collapsed last year amid rising costs, poor performance and a fierce talent war among multi-strategy hedge funds.
"The challenge of attracting and retaining experienced money managers capable of deploying capital at scale within a cost structure acceptable to investors has grown significantly," founder Ed Eisler said in a letter in September.
Hedge fund recruiters said that Eisler's portfolio managers started their job hunt months before the collapse.
"Eisler money managers were talking to other funds since March. They all saw the writing on the wall," said a London-based headhunter. "Many had seats lined up already and that's why they found new homes quicker than many expected."
"Most of the portfolio managers were well prepared in terms of job search," a Dubai-based recruiter said.
Some portfolio managers had worked their notice periods well before the collapse. Others were bound to long non-compete agreements, however.
Eisler imposed a 30% bonus cut on traders who wanted to leave immediately, Bloomberg reported in October. However, the hedge fund waived non-competes for some senior money managers and gave them a year's severance pay.
"I personally faced no issues at Eisler. They were very good to me when I left," said a portfolio manager who has now joined a bank to run a trading strategy.
Hedge funds are known for imposing non-competes ranging from six months to over two years.
"To have experienced portfolio managers in the market ready to trade immediately without lengthy non-competes is a pretty rare occasion. That's what happened after Eisler's collapse," said a UAE-based recruiter.
The availability of Eisler's portfolio managers came at an opportune time for rivals. Hedge funds gained 12.6% on average in 2025, their best performance since 2009, according to HFR.
"This all happened at a perfect moment, with the macro sector very much on fire. In that environment, firms were already looking to double down on proven strategy experts -- this just made it easier to act decisively, " McGhee said.
Other Eisler names who joined multi-strategy firms in recent months include Matt Goldman, who left Eisler last year to join Verition as a money manager. Eisler portfolio manager Puneet Sethi joined Millennium in January.
"Nobody likes to see a firm close, but unfortunately, these things do happen in our industry. The most important point is that high-quality portfolio managers with real track records remain highly employable, and strong platforms are always ready to back talent when the timing and structure align," McGhee said.