Citadel Securities hired Schonfeld's head of macro research

efinancialcareers.com:

Jaime Villa, the former head of macro research at hedge fund Schonfeld, has resurfaced and not at a hedge fund.

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Villa is joining electronic trading firm Citadel Securities. In a post on social media today, he said he's joining Citadel Securities' principal strategies group in London. 

Citadel's principal strategies team is run by global head of fixed income Shyam Rajan. Rajan has been building out the team globally, although it's not thought that Villa is joining his team. Bloomberg reported last week that Citadel Securities has been adding to its 120 strong rates trading team in London and Paris, and has hired three sterling rates traders and five salespeople based in London, alongside four euro rates traders and two salespeople in Paris under global head of rates trading Michael De Pass.

Villa's exit from Schonfeld came as the fund has reportedly changed its macro focus. Business Insider reported last week that it's focusing on relative value offerings instead of directional investments. There have been a number of macro departures in addition to Villa, including Brent Cook, Igor Ninkovic and Jérôme Saragoussi. 

Schonfeld is also hiring. Business Insider said it's added former Barclays rates trader Jordan Barnes and the Citi bond trader Rahul Mehra.

After struggling in 2023, Schonfeld is one of the top performing hedge funds this year: it reportedly returned 8.2% through to June. 

Villa has spent his career on the buy-side. He started at Pimco in 2007 and after staying there for nearly seven years has subsequently tended to change jobs every 24 months or so. Schonfeld hired Villa in 2022 to run research for a new macro trading team, based in London. The FCA Register