London Credit Hedge Fund Recruiters

Hello All,

I'm aware this may be a little duplicative with prior London recruiting posts, but I was wondering who the best recruiters are in London for Credit Hedge funds specifically (long/short credit / distressed) specifically. Think like CQS, Anchorage, Goldentree. Currently at a credit hedge fund in New York, but looking to move to London in a similar capacity.

Thanks in advance.

 
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London hedge fund recruiting is a lot less structured compared to NYC. If you don't have a stellar CV the recruiters mentioned above are unlikely to go to bat for you. I once met a guy from Hinton Rose who was shocked that I was working for a competitor of the firms you mentioned. We both laughed about it but I told him I got my job through the JOBS portal on Bloomberg and nailed the case study and that was that. My advice in the UK market is to do the following (i) put together 2 solid pitches on topical ideas in the European debt space. (ii) Start reaching out to people in the firms you want to work for and find out who is the head of research in the London office. (iii) Email that person your CV and your pitches and ask for a coffee chat. (iv) Even if that firm is not looking it's a small space in Europe so everyone tends to know everyone else so the guy you have a coffee with might know another firm that is looking and can put you in touch.

Also, don't be afraid to remind people about your pitches. I recommended shorting Debenhams bonds at par and they trade in the 30's today. That was a great call and one shouldn't be afraid to remind people of who you are and what you can do.

 

Thank you. Just checked JOBS on Bloomberg and there's, at a big stretch, 1 job in London even remotely related to potentially working with HY/Distressed credit. I'm glad it was a fruitful avenue for you!

Seems like I may have to do it the old fashioned cold networking way. I like your advice on the pitches. I have looked at some European HY/Distressed names like Codere, Lowell, Saga, MetroBank in my current role for our fund so will be some good crossover hopefully. (Putting on Thomas Cook bond short at 80 was one of my babies this year, its a shame though getting any sizable borrow in European HY is almost impossible. Not as good of a risk/reward trade as your Debenhams short at par of course).

As for steps 2 and 3, I assume this is geared toward large global credit shops with NYC/London opps. Unfortunately I'm only in London a couple times a year, and I don't actually have that great buyside connectivity with those places but will definitely reach out (sucks IB chat would be too forward). Aside from the firm's already mentioned (excluding MFs), I'm thinking off the top of my head this would be Cerberus, Whitebox, CVC, York, DK, Elliott, BlueBay, Marathon, HPS, DE Shaw, BlueCrest(?) However, I'm not too knowledgeable on who the key players are in the European HY/Distressed landscape. I would love your input on names/funds I'm missing, particularly if there's any small legit 1bn-2bn AUM shops focused on Europe that I would never otherwise come across.

Thanks a bunch for your time and help!

 

On top of my head add monarch, caius capital, warwick capital partners, ironshield and look around in the suggestions on linkedin to similar companies should get you to quite a few funds (I also know some PE shops have credit arms that play in distressed - Bain Cap Credit, Carlyle, KKR - see telepizza play in spain). Otherwise maybe try to get hold of one of the sales guys working at an investment bank to get you in touch in London, they must know who’s active in the space. I think there was a recent thread about well performing SS shops in Europe recently, let me try to find that.

 

Yes I was lucky, this was back in 2013 and loads of HF's were recruiting on the back of this idea that banks were going to be forced to fire-sell assets to reduce leverage and that this would create a bonanza for credit shops. Turns out the ECB had other ideas but hey ho I landed a few interviews with good shops and finally a job after nailing a Codere case study. I think hiring has been subdued but this will likely change with (i) Brexit about to be resolved any day now, and (ii) more and more talk of a recession which should lead to increased defaults and greater need for buts on seats at leaner shops.

Personally, your CV sounds strong with a target school and GS IBD experience so I would expect you to get traction with the listed head hunters. You just need to convince them of "why London and why now."

Just out of curiosity, what passport do you have? You will be competing with European guys with language skills (especially good for Italian and Spanish speakers as these were great places for DD investors during the last cycle) and it's not clear to me how easy it will be for a fund to sponsor you for a Visa, or if they will even be motivated to when there are a glut of well qualified candidates here.

As far as the recruiting process, almost all funds have guys do a case study and come in and present it. So you would need to be willing to hop on a plane and fly to London on short notice for interviews which may not be ideal.

Other names to add would be KingStreet Capital, PSAM, Angelo Gordon, GSO, Warwick Partners, Cheyne Capital, Varde Partners, Monarch, Triton Partners, Brigade Capital.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

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