Can Citadel really weather this storm? Citadel Shuts overseas offices

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...jGpk&refer=…

Is Citadel finished?

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Citadel Investment Group LLC, the hedge-fund manager founded by Kenneth Griffin, will close its Tokyo office and cut other Asian operations, eliminating 37 jobs less than a year after adding people in the region.

The layoffs, which affect more than half of Citadel’s employees in Asia, include dismantling the team that invested the firm’s own money in companies going through events such as takeovers and spinoffs. Its remaining Asian businesses will be run from Hong Kong, Katie Spring, a spokeswoman for the Chicago- based firm, said today.

Griffin had ramped up the Asian unit in April, hiring Nick Taylor from Credit Suisse Group AG for a new position as head of principal investments for Asia and Europe. David Noh was brought in from Merrill Lynch & Co. as head of Asian merchant banking. Citadel, whose two largest funds have slumped 47 percent this year, said in October that it will wind down a $1 billion fund that invests with other managers.

“Even the funds that are doing well are cutting people, so those that are suffering, they are going to cut costs -- it’s industrywide at the moment,” said Angus McKinnon, senior partner at Tozai Investment Advisory Ltd., a Tokyo-based hedge- fund adviser. “I think there is more to come.”

Citadel will cut 25 jobs in Hong Kong, leaving 25 to 30 people in the office, while 12 jobs will be eliminated in Tokyo. Citadel employed 1,400 globally, according to an Oct. 20 press release.

Year of Losses

Hedge funds globally are reducing jobs, limiting withdrawals and liquidating funds as a credit crunch and a 46 percent drop in the MSCI World Index in 2008 put them on course for the worst year on record. Hedge funds have lost about 18 percent this year, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc.

The operations to be run out of Hong Kong include stocks, options and foreign-exchange trading, as well as China investments and merchant banking, which holds securities not traded on exchanges for the longer term.

“We continue to evolve the business to focus on the greatest potential opportunities and to scale back where the opportunity set is no longer as attractive,” Spring said.

Citadel’s two largest funds, Kensington and Wellington, lost 13 percent last month. The funds, which had a combined $10 billion in assets, received demands from investors to withdraw $1 billion by the end of the year, people said.

Griffin, 40, had posted just one losing year since starting the firm in 1990, a 4 percent decline in 1994. The changes in Asia were previously reported by Dow Jones Newswires.

Takeovers Plummet

Today’s decision came as bankers at Barclays Capital and Nomura Holdings Inc. said the value of mergers and acquisitions worldwide may decline 30 percent in 2009 to about $2 trillion. Takeovers so far this year are down 36 percent from the same period of 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Tim Throsby, Citadel’s former Asia head, left last month. Throsby and Taylor declined to comment.

Citadel recruited Taylor from Modal Capital Partners, an internal hedge fund at Credit Suisse Group, earlier this year to expand principal investments in Asia and Europe. He is leaving the company. The hedge-fund manager hired nine people for the business in Asia and Europe in August.

Hedge funds may cut as many as 10,000 jobs this year as they struggle with their biggest losses in almost two decades, New York-based executive search firm Options Group said in October.

Managers including Ramius LLC, a New York-based firm once overseeing $11 billion, London’s GSA Capital Partners LLP and Concordia Advisors LLC have cut jobs and offices in Asia to reduce costs.

Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets, bet on falling as well as rising asset prices, and participate substantially in profits from money invested.

 

My initial reaction was that it was short-sighted of them to close the entirety of the Tokyo office, but I'm sure Ken Griffin knows far more about the situation than I do.

It's looking really bleak out here.

 

You got ding donged.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

They probably had an opening, the HR tried to bring in candidates, but the hiring manager had his own candidates or they ended up taking somebody internally... Give the HR a call and see whats up with them...

I loved the reply "you got ding donged"- LOL :)

Something similar happened to me with a large portfolio management company in NYC.

 

Thanks. SkyfallFox.

Seems like so. I don't trust headhunters much either. will just send a "thank you" .

Again, the recruiting experience of Citadel sucks. Just a phone call from HR and said they will contact me again Which never happened.

 

Last I heard, I thought they were getting rid of it, no? Griffin has driven away well over half of the (mostly ex-ML) execs that he had brought in to start and run the unit. After all, the guy's not the easiest in the world to work with, I hear.

 

At tenetur qui aliquid consequatur. Voluptate velit qui aperiam est sequi. Ratione et tempora asperiores impedit quae.

Ipsam consequatur id debitis quis dicta labore ab. Sunt recusandae aut esse veritatis. Praesentium autem optio sapiente illum quas. Quia at possimus aliquid tempore omnis vel sapiente.

Illum rerum sit libero voluptates qui dolor deleniti odit. Maxime distinctio rerum necessitatibus odit nostrum itaque laudantium. Qui temporibus consequuntur cupiditate amet eum. Dolorum nemo quia atque aperiam et at rem.

Voluptas consequuntur ipsum et quos tempore. Excepturi omnis veniam magnam nemo officiis. Molestiae et sapiente voluptatem in possimus laudantium.

 

Est quaerat fugit est molestiae debitis et. Rem quia sed impedit laudantium amet non. Quos quis eaque exercitationem adipisci sint consequatur doloribus totam. Ducimus reiciendis incidunt est velit officia laborum vel officia.

Earum ut ut in et rerum dolorem doloremque. Praesentium iure eius asperiores rerum natus praesentium. Facilis nihil quidem voluptate ut cumque distinctio sit. Exercitationem delectus et ea laborum sit suscipit facilis temporibus.

Modi ut est soluta laboriosam iusto. Sed sint id culpa molestiae a aspernatur aperiam. Necessitatibus id quo nihil temporibus nihil. Voluptas sunt saepe aliquid repellendus aperiam. Eaque laborum fugit eos saepe aut ab. Dicta fuga rerum beatae magnam dolorum possimus beatae iure. Voluptates ratione deserunt inventore.

Always be improving

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 96.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (249) $85
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”