Morning Coffee: How to make $32bn in hedge funds by letting people do what they like. The hot hand of Greece

Izzy Englander is an older, rich man. Aged 77, Bloomberg notes that he is worth $32bn. He has been through an expensive divorce after his wife of 40 years left for a female art dealer, but he is undaunted. Englander is still making money the way he knows how: by allowing people to do what they want, within very tight parameters. 

As Millennium, Englander's hedge fund approaches $100bn in assets under management, Bloomberg contemplates its unusual operating model. Englander has a Hobbesian approach to running his fund: portfolio managers work independently in teams doing what they like, so long as they make money; if they lose 5% their book is cut in half; if they lose 7%, they're out.

It's an approach that has enabled Englander to deploy vast sums of money, notes Bloomberg. It's now being supercharged by funnelling additional cash to talented external operators (who presumably operate under the same broad drawdown parameters). Bobby Jain at Jain Global spent 18 months slowly investing $5bn while labouring under recruitment struggles and his high front-loaded set-up costs. Millennium is now giving Bobby and his 65 portfolio managers some of its own capital to deploy instead, while (we suspect) allowing for middle and back office costs at Jain Global to be trimmed and Millennium's own platform to be used.

Englander's laissez-faire approach doesn't mean that he hires anyone. Back when Millennium managed $69bn in 2024, the Wall Street Journal said the fund conducted 3,000 interviews a year. Vetting processes are stringent, especially for the senior portfolio managers setting up independent pods (teams) who must convince Izzy and Millennium's other senior people that their strategies are viable. 

If you convince, Millennium will spend big money setting you up. It's currently attempting to recover $2.5m from Tang Ling, a portfolio manager in Asia, whom Millennium says accepted and reneged on its job offer. Millennium says that money is to cover the costs of getting everything ready for Ling to join.

The $2.5m doesn't include the additional money that Englander pays to lure big portfolio managers on board. In 2025, Steve Schurr from Balyasny was said to receive an offer of $100m, paid over several years.  

Amidst the money, hiring and freedom, the WSJ said 15%-20% of Millennium's people leave every year. Many have reached their loss limits. Combined with rising assets under management (AUM), this creates a constant need for more and more people. 

Fortunately, some people at Millennium are consistently profitable. The firm usually generates annual returns of 10%. The model works for Izzy, even if doesn't for the people who arrive to do what they want, lose money, and leave again. 

Separately, how about Athens? Now that Chris Rokos is going there, others may do the same. There's weather, the acropolis and the altar of Zeus. There's also low taxes.

As long as you invest €500k in Greece and pay an extra €100k in annual taxes, you can now live in Greece and avoid all other taxation on overseas income for 15 years. The changes were introduced in June as part of a deliberate attempt to attract alternative asset managers by the Greek government. 

€500k upfront and €100k a year isn't for everyone. It is for Rokos. Maybe Englander will arrive in Athens too.

Meanwhile...

Nigol Koulajian founded a $2bn hedge fund. A Dutch investor and former Goldman Sachs partner says Koulajian lost control and that he should have given $45m back in the event of liquidation. He will not be going to Athens. (Bloomberg)  

JPMorgan named Pieter Himpe co-head of technology investment banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, alongside Bill Hutchings. It also made Mark Fiteny and Matt Gehl co-heads of international technology investment banking. (Financial News)  

Nomura now has 20 people in its technology banking team and says: "We are selectively building our global content capabilities and expertise in sectors, such as technology, where we see significant growth potential and the opportunity to provide unique solutions for clients across our product set.” It just hired Bharathi Kannan from Arma Partners.  (Financial News) 

Niul Wood from Nomura joined Lazard as a managing director within its industrials team. (Financial News) 

Dario Schiraldi wanted €152m from Deutsche Bank after being convicted and then acquitted of aiding and abetting false accounting and market manipulation at Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena while he worked there. Deutsche just settled out of court. (Financial Times) 

Financial-services and real-estate firms, which accounted for about two-thirds of downtown employment near Wall Street at the time of September 11th 2001, now account for roughly a third instead. (WSJ) 

A Chinese car company hired 100 people and then fired them a month later. Punishments have been announced for the executives and the HR director has been dismissed. (WSJ)