A Citadel macro PM was set to join Point72 — but then Balyasny swooped in

Dmitry Balyasny, founder of Balyasny Asset Management.

George Arzeno is in demand.

The macro portfolio manager was lured away from Citadel this spring by Point72, which had been ramping up its macro-trading operation, Bloomberg reported in March.

But in another salvo of the multimanager hedge-fund talent war, Arzeno is now expected to join Balyasny after the fund swooped in with a sweeter offer than Point72, according to people familiar with the matter.

Representatives for Balyasny and Point72 declined to comment. Arzeno did not respond to requests for comment.

Bidding away a PM who has already agreed to go to another firm isn’t uncommon. Noncompetition clauses have grown lengthier and commonly force new hires to sit out for a year or more before joining, giving them ample time to mull alternative offers after the difficult choice of resigning is behind them.

But it can be fraught territory, as hedge funds are increasingly including breakup fees for senior talent that renege on a deal, according to industry experts. B-17 could not independently determine whether Arzeno might be subject to a breakup fee.

Balyasny has been on a hiring binge, spending hundreds of millions to hire senior investment talent. Macro trading, in particular, has been a point of emphasis, including hires like Stanley Sheriff from Millennium, Brian Sack from D.E. Shaw, and George Tyrell from Goldman Sachs.

Arzeno joined Citadel in 2020 from Bracebridge Capital. The 32-year-old grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and graduated from MIT in 2014, according to his social media profiles.