Goldman Sachs traders wondering about the wisdom of leaving for hedge fund Millennium Management, will be reassured to learn that one of their number is thriving there.
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Bloomberg reported that Naveen Choppara, Goldman Sachs’ former co-head of EMEA emerging markets and FX rates trading made $40m in March from betting on the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.
That profit is likely to earn Choppara a bonus of circa $8m, tax free, although any losses later in the year could erase this windfall.
Millennium declined to comment.
Choppara spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs in London before leaving in September 2023. He joined Millennium in Dubai and presumably made the $40m shortly after arriving in his new hot seat.
Millennium is one of the largest multistrategy hedge funds. Choppara isn’t its only recent hire from Goldman Sachs’ rates team. Millennium also recruited Urvashi Chahal, a VP-level rates trader over the Christmas period. Other ex-Goldman rates traders to be found there include Andres Ankers, who joined in 2012, and Amir Fais, who joined last year.
Not everyone who leaves Goldman for Millennium stays. Dan Avery, a 35-year-old ex-Goldman delta one trader, who joined in 2020 recently left again for Balyasny.
Millennium has a reputation for paying generously to get portfolio managers on board. Last year, it was said to have paid as much as $60m to entice Stefan Ericsson from Citadel. Ericsson left Citadel in June 2022 and joined Millennium in London in September 2023 after sitting out on a non-compete.
While Goldman Sachs is losing traders to hedge funds, it’s also replenishing its ranks. In February, it hired Antonio Belgioioso from Brevan Howard.
Millennium opened its Dubai office in 2020. It has eight people there according to the DIFC register. That doesn’t include Choppara, the new favourite person.
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