Highbridge Capital Continues Hiring Spree in London

Updated, 2:06 p.m. |

The hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management, which sees big opportunities in Europe and is on a hiring spree to make inroads there, has just scooped up two executives.

Juan Lamo de Espinosa left York Capital Management two weeks ago to join Highbridge’s London office, where he will head up the European equities division, according to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly. He will begin in July and is expected to bring a team of three or four traders with him. Before working as a managing director in the European equities division at York Capital, Mr. Lamo de Espinosa worked for Citadel.

On Monday, Highbridge also hired Owain Griffiths away from Tricadia Capital, where he was a manager for European credit in London, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The appointments come a month after Highbridge hired away John Aylward from Claren Road Asset Management, a hedge fund run by the Carlyle Group, to head its credit strategy in London. Mr. Griffiths will work under Mr. Aylward.

In March, Highbridge also hired two portfolio managers from Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors to work out of its New York headquarters.

With its three most recent hirings in London, Highbridge, which is owned by JPMorgan Chase, will have expanded its hedge fund team in Europe to 8 to 10 managers. Under its Highbridge Principal Strategies platform, the firm also has a private direct lending fund. The fund has positioned itself for opportunities in European markets where big banks have had to rein in lending amid tougher rules, like investing in small and midsize companies.

The London office of Highbridge manages about 25 percent of the firm’s $29 billion in global assets under management.

The firm will also move Kevin McNamara, its head of global investment strategy, to London to help with the push into Europe. It joins a slew of hedge funds and private equity firms that have committed fresh capital to the region and moved managers to Europe to look for ways to take part in its slow emergence from financial crisis.

Mr. Lamo de Espinosa’s new team is expected to focus on European equities. After being pummeled for years, European stocks received a lift in July 2012 when Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro zone economy.

Mr. Draghi’s “bazooka,” as it came to be known, has helped to drive the value of stocks across the Continent to multiyear highs. It has also prompted speculation that European companies are poised for a flurry of merger activity.

“A large portion of European stocks have little to no analyst coverage,” Mr. McNamara said in a recent interview. “If you are willing to go over there and do the digging and work, there is a lot of opportunity.”

Correction: May 14, 2014
An earlier version of this article misstated the role of a hedge fund executive at York Capital Management. Juan Lamo de Espinosa was a managing director in the European equities division, not the head of it. He was a research analyst, not a portfolio manager.