(Bloomberg) -- Todd Barker, the head of Surveyor Capital at Citadel, is retiring after 16 years at the hedge fund and will be replaced by his deputy Phillip Lee.

Barker, 42, joined the $38 billion firm in 2004 as an analyst and has led Surveyor, one of Citadel’s three stock-picking units, for the last five years. He will continue as a special adviser to the firm, Ken Griffin’s Citadel said Wednesday.

“I am grateful for Todd’s meaningful contributions over the past 16 years as he built his career at the firm,” Griffin said in a statement. “Phil is well positioned to build on Surveyor’s long history of success and develop the next generation of portfolio managers.”

Lee joined the Chicago-based firm in 2013 as a senior analyst at Surveyor and rose to become one of its most successful portfolio managers.

The unit has more than 175 investment professionals globally, and has ramped up its international hiring. It doubled the size of its London investment team over the last year or so, and is seeking to double its presence in Asia.

As part of the firm’s global expansion, Citadel also named Sean Salji for a new role of head of international equities, in which he will focus on growing Citadel’s stocks businesses in Europe and Asia Pacific. Salji, who has run Surveyor’s European business for three years, joined Citadel in 2005 and eventually became a top money manager.

“Todd, Sean and Phil are tremendous examples of the meritocracy that differentiates Citadel,” Griffin said.

Citadel’s flagship Wellington fund gained 8.2% in the first four months, according to a person familiar with the matter. The S&P 500 index returned nearly 12% over that span, with dividends reinvested. The average hedge fund gained 2.9% in the first quarter of the year on an asset-weighted basis, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.

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