(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund Walleye Capital has dismissed eight portfolio managers including global macro chief Anuraj Dua in another round of job cuts, according to people familiar with the matter.
The fund cut several trading positions across volatility, quant and macro strategies, with Robert Toffel, Julien Prado, Eric Couffignals, Jessica Vanquin and Nikolaos Stathopoulos among those leaving, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel. The cuts were in roles managing less than 1% of the firm’s risk exposure, the people said.
Walleye, with about $7.1 billion of assets under management, has gained more than 13% so far this year, one of the people said.
A representative for Walleye, led by Chief Executive Officer Will England, declined to comment, as did Dua and Couffignals. The other portfolio managers didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.
In August, Bloomberg News reported that Walleye had cut about a dozen jobs including the role of head of equity capital markets, which had been held by Michael Martin.
The hedge fund industry’s multistrategy model has struggled amid high expenses, and Walleye is making sure that it isn’t bloated and remains disciplined around growth, another person said of the latest cuts. The firm is focused on its core areas of volatility, equities and quant trading, the person said.
Dua joined Walleye in January 2021 and previously worked at GTS Asset Management and Barclays Plc, according to his LinkedIn profile. At Walleye, he was responsible for systematic macro strategies, according to one of the people. Toffel, Prado, Couffignals and Vanquin joined the firm earlier this year, according to their profiles. Stathopoulos had been with the firm for two years, according to LinkedIn.
In recent weeks, Walleye hired Matt Giannini, Citadel’s head of equities business development, to help build out its long-short equities business. Walleye also hired Bryan Wren and Brian Czenszak as portfolio managers focused on industrials and consumer companies, respectively.
(Updates with two more traders exiting firm.)
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