One could argue that Millennium Management's greatest advantage over other hedge funds is its ability to keep talented people in-house.
The massive hedge fund — which manages some $46 billion in assets across hundreds of teams — has a unique structure that lets portfolio managers operate in independent silos. The structure, which is grants PMs even more autonomy than fellow multi-strategy funds though with tight risk and loss parameters, helps billionaire founder Israel Englander convince staffers who might leave a more traditional fund to stay in-house — and recruit top talent into his firm.
For example, Neil Chriss, who was once Steve Cohen's top quant and ran Hutchin Hill for many years, joined Millennium in 2018 run Omnis Quantitative instead of starting his own fund. Sara Nainzadeh started her own fund, Centenus Global Management in 2017, after working for Millennium for years, and has since brought her fund back into Englander's firm.
Other internal brands for Millennium include names like Catapult Capital, Rockhopper Capital, Cannon Asset Management, and Blue Arrow Capital.
There's also Englander's penchant to invest, both exclusively and alongside other LPs, in external funds — firms and founders who are not included in the alumni list. The most famous example is Igor Tulchinsky, a former Millennium portfolio manager who founded WorldQuant and manages both Millennium money as well as external capital.
In September, former Citadel technology PM Neville Shah got funding from Englander as an external manager to start Kodai Capital Management, while Bloomberg recently reported about an agreement Millennium reached with a Singapore fund called RV Capital Management where the Asia-focused fund will manage the new assets in an exclusive separately managed account for Englander's investors.
Still, Millennium's decades-long success has created dozens of spin-offs from their ranks — more than 70 by Business Insider's count. Active firms include names like Corso Capital run by David Frank, LNZ Capital founded by Reza Hatefi, and Compass Rose Asset Management from Jason Roche.
While some might have received funding from Englander, the network of firms highlighted below operate independently of Millennium after working for the firm — or at a firm founded by an alumni of Millennium — at some point in their careers. (Story continues below graphic)
Izzy’s influence
Hedge-fund founders connected to Millennium
Active hedge fund
Inactive hedge fund
Dot size represents number of years active
The most notable was the most controversial: Michael Gelband's ExodusPoint Capital Management. Gelband, Millennium's former head of fixed income, resigned in 2017 after reportedly not being the heir apparent to take over the firm after Englander.
The name of his fund is a clear reference to leaving the firm, and he has steadily recruited talent from Millennium since he left, including his co-founder, Hyung Soon Lee, who was the former head of equities at Millennium. Exodus set a record when it launched in 2018 with $8 billion committed capital.
Search Business Insider's table below for founders who worked at Millennium. (The names are identical to the above graphic)
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