Hedge Fund Balyasny Plans Hiring Spree for New Unit in Equities Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Balyasny Asset Management is launching a new business to bolster the hedge fund’s equities strategy and plans to hire investment managers as part of the expansion.

The unit, Corbets Capital, will debut in the second half of the year with offices in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Tom Stephens, Balyasny’s associate director of research, will head Corbets as president, reporting to the firm’s equity-management team.

Balyasny will move some existing equities long-short teams to Corbets, which will grow to 20 teams over the next year, according to the memo. Teams typically have three to five members.

Equities will continue to represent Balyasny’s largest allocation, and Corbets will be measured by the same metrics as the fund’s current long-short teams. The Chicago-based firm, with about $15 billion under management, will allocate capital to Corbets through its multi-strategy funds.

Corbets is named for the iconic Corbet’s Couloir ski run in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which features a drop from a cornice, followed by a landing in a steep and narrow gully, requiring a hard turn to avoid colliding with a rock wall.

“We thought this was an appropriate analogy for trading, as it remains an inspiration and an exercise in risk management,” according to the memo.

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