(Bloomberg) — Hedge fund firms including Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and Millennium Management LLC continue to boost their ranks of Japan-focused traders after economic and monetary policy swings roiled markets.
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Tomoki Kondo joined Brevan Howard as a Singapore-based portfolio manager in August, according to a person with knowledge of the matter and his LinkedIn profile. Millennium added Yasuhiro Hasegawa as a fixed-income portfolio manager, a person familiar said. Ryosuke Kaneda recently started a Japan rates-focused role at Capula Investment Management LLP, according to a person briefed on the matter and his LinkedIn profile.
Representatives of the firms declined to comment.
Hedge funds have been building up talent pools as monetary polices increasingly diverge among countries, creating more trading opportunities. Violent swings in the stock, rates and currency markets of the world’s fourth-largest economy in July and August highlighted the need for skilled traders, especially ones that have navigated various market cycles.
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates for only the second time in 17 years in late July and indicated more hikes were likely. The yen continued a sharp rebound against the dollar that began the same month, as the unwind of carry trades accelerated. Estimated to run into trillions of dollars, the yen carry trade involves borrowing at low rates in Japan to buy higher-yielding assets elsewhere.
Japanese stocks lost $1.1 trillion over the first three trading days of August, as the Topix index suffered its biggest collapse since 1959. Panicked investors rushed to the safety of Japanese government bonds. That, together with weak US payroll data and a BOJ policymaker’s assurance that the bank wouldn’t raise rates further, smashed the popular hedge fund bet on rising Japanese interest rates. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield slid the most since 1999 as traders sought to cover short positions.
The dramatic moves led to widespread pain. Senior Portfolio Manager Chiga Murayama and Yosuke Motegi left BlueCrest Capital Management after losing money on Japanese government bond trades.
Among the new recruits, Kondo has been trading Japanese government bonds since at least 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile. He later led yen rates trading and served as a deputy head of derivatives trading at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Hasegawa traded Japanese government bonds at Bank of America Corp. Kaneda was a Japanese government bond and yen rates swap trader at Nomura Holdings Inc.
Japan isn’t the only place where hedge funds are adding to macro teams, whose remits can include trading across stock, bond, currency and commodity markets:
Izzy Englander’s $69 billion giant Millennium also added Sushrut Kulkarni, formerly of RV Capital Management Pte, to an existing team as a Singapore-based fixed-income portfolio manager, said the person.
Rohan Kohli joined Hong Kong-based Polymer Capital Management as a macro portfolio manager this month, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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