A handful of macro traders left Balyasny following a volatile November

Dmitry Balyasny, founder of Balyasny Asset Management.

A handful of macro traders have left hedge-fund giant Balyasny Asset Management, according to four people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous because the information isn’t public.

The departures, which include portfolio managers Gugesh Guganeswaran, Kurt Lichtman, and Matthew Potts and at least one analyst, come after a volatile November for global markets.

The reason for the exits wasn’t immediately clear. Balyasny has overall been an aggressive acquirer of investment talent for much of 2024.

A Balyasny spokesman declined to comment on the personnel moves. The traders did not respond to LinkedIn messages.

For many macro traders, November was a blockbuster month: The election of Donald Trump for another term as US president jolted global markets, boosting profits at some of the industry’s top hedge funds. Macro-focused firms like Discovery Capital, Rokos, and Brevan Howard posted stellar returns, according to Bloomberg.

Balyasny also benefited, having its best month of the year. Its 3.9% gain was attributable in part to macro performance, a person familiar with the firm said.

Prior to November, however, global macro strategies had been among the worst performers in an otherwise strong year for hedge funds. The Global Macro Index tracked by hedge-fund research firm PivotalPath is up 4.5% this year, whereas its broader Composite Hedge Fund Index is up 10.4%.

Potts joined Balyasny in 2020 from BlackRock, where he was head of macro strategies, according to his LinkedIn bio. He launched a semi-systematic team in San Francisco focused on emerging markets exchange rates, according to an interview on the company’s website.

Guganeswaran, a senior PM based in the United Kingdom, joined in 2020 and previously worked as a PM at Citadel and an FX options trader at Barclays.

Lichtman, a senior PM based in Miami, joined in 2021 from Moore Capital, where he worked for almost a decade.

Macro has been a large focus of Balyasny’s hiring this year, including additions like George Arzeno from Citadel, Stanley Sheriff from Millennium, Brian Sack from D.E. Shaw, and George Tyrell from Goldman Sachs, among others.