Jump Trading, the electronic trading firm, is understood to have lost the head of its London office to a quantitative hedge fund.
Pierre Lafitte, a quantitative trader and team leader in Jump’s London office, is understood to have left for Qube Research and Technologies. Multiple sources confirmed the move, but neither Lafitte nor Jump nor Qube responded to a request to comment.
Lafitte spent nearly 12 years at Jump after joining from BNP Paribas in 2012. He’s a graduate of France’s École Polytechnique.
Lafitte’s London office exit follows that of Peter Deaner, the COO of Jump Trading Europe. Business Insider reported last year that Deaner was planning to leave in the first quarter of 2024.
The exits follow but may not be related to a court case last year in which Damien Couture, a French quant trader hired by Jump on £1m guaranteed bonus in 2015 said he was being unfairly prevented by joining hedge fund Verition by Jump’s two year non-compete.
Now Lafitte is joining a hedge fund too. It may be a while before he’s allowed to arrive.
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