Barclays' ex-head of EMEA rates trading is at centre of hedge fund hiring dispute

efinancialcareers.com:

As we noted a few weeks ago, Eisler Capital the self-proclaimed «intellectually honest hedge fund» that's on a hiring spree is having some issues with a headhunting firm, which says it's owed £389k ($492k) after placing a portfolio manager there. 

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The portfolio manager in question is Prabhat Malhotra, the former head of rates trading options for EMEA at Barclays, who joined Eisler in June 2023.

An article that appeared in the print edition of Telegraph a few weeks ago cited court papers in which hedge fund search firm Monroe Partners states that headhunter Christoper Robbins sent Malhotra's CV to Eisler's head of business development Hilary Curran six months before Malhotra joined the fund. 

Monroe Partners had been retained on a non-exclusive basis by Eisler and had a contract stating that it would be paid $400k up front for finding portfolio managers, $200k upon completion of a year of employment. 

Malhotra will soon have been at Eisler for nearly a year, but Monroe has seemingly received nothing. It is suing for breach of contract. 

Eisler's lawyers are reportedly arguing that the email from Robbins did not count as an introduction because it didn't lead to an interview or a follow-up call, both of which it says were necessary to invoke the requirement to pay the fee.  

Instead, it says another recruiter introduced Malhotra to Eisler's «Marmite» deputy CIO Sam Wisnia directly and that Wisnia proceeded with his hire. Eisler is reportedly arguing that Monroe's case is an «opportunistic attempt to gain a windfall of £389k for a nine-line email.»

It's not clear what Malhotra thinks of the affair. If Monroe Partners loses the case, however, it will make headhunters wary