As portfolio managers leave Eisler Capital, contemplation of bonus clawbacks
As we noted last month, hedge fund Eisler Capital is shedding staff that it seemingly wanted to keep. Most notably, Lewis Morton, its star basis trader, disappeared, even after Eisler kindly set him up in Jersey to help reduce his tax bill.
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Sources say Eisler has experienced various other exits recently, too. They include Daniel Bitel, the former head of European swaps trading at Goldman Sachs, who left Goldman for BlueCrest 2019 and then left BlueCrest for Eisler in 2023, but has now left again. Former Citadel portfolio manager Simon Hilpert is also understood to have left Eisler in North Carolina; Matt Goldman is thought to have left in New York; and Tom Rees - Eisler's ex-Deutsche Bank - head of crypto trading, has left in London.
Eisler declined to comment on the exits. They come as the fund has been hiring, too. Benjamin Spielman joined from Rokos to focus on equity capital markets in February; Colin Teichholtz joined from Element Capital Markets to run fixed income in March.
Staff churn is standard for multistrategy hedge funds, but Eisler's exits are still a source of curiosity. When traders leave, Eisler requires that they pay back bonuses awarded in the prior year. The implication is therefore that bonuses are being bought out by rival funds, or that Eisler portfolio managers are simply walking away.
They may not have much to walk away from. Eisler Capital generated returns of only 3% last year.
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