Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Marketing and investor relations hires at hedge funds increased significantly in the first three months of 2018 from the all-time low recorded in the final quarter of 2017, according to executive recruiter Context Jensen Partners. The spike in the number of hires comes amid a higher-volatility environment in financial markets, which could suggest hedge fund firms seek to attract the capital flowing out of equity markets.
The headhunting firm documented 81 investor relations and fundraising hires at hedge funds in the first quarter of the year, up from only 39 hires recorded in the last quarter of 2017 – the lowest quarterly number of hires documented by Context Jensen since the firm started tracking hires in 2013. “Now that volatility is back, people are moving back to hedge funds,” Sasha Jensen, chief executive officer of Context Jensen Partners, was quoted as saying in an article released by publisher Institutional Investor. “Even though it’s been a rough first quarter, hedge funds can offer a different type of return through understanding that volatility and making the right moves around it,” she added.
Looking at the alternative investment industry as a whole, Context Jensen recorded 280 marketing hires in the first quarter of 2018. This was one of the busiest quarters on record, trailing only the 331 hires recorded for the third quarter of 2017.
Going back to the hedge fund industry, equity-oriented hedge funds made the most marketing and investor relations hires during the quarter, with the number of hires reaching 21. Multi-strategy vehicles and credit funds hired 14 and 13 people, respectively. At the same time, global macro hedge funds and commodity funds recruited nine and eight marketing professionals, correspondingly, in the first three months of the year.
According to Jensen, hedge funds have been strengthening the investor relations staff at existing vehicles, as well as hiring marketers for new funds. Many hedge funds and other players in the alternative asset management industry have been launching niche credit strategies, according to Jensen.
Picture: (c) Ollyy—shutterstock.com
