A London market-maker is hiring the niche traders unappreciated by hedge funds
London-based market maker and trading firm Maven Securities has been growing. Companies House accounts for its two entities last year revealed that headcount grew by 37 to 323 people, and it's hiring more people in 2025. The catch: it's after a particular niche of trader.
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Maven's multi-strat group, which operates similarly to a pod-based hedge fund (but without external investors), has a mix of 25 discretionary and systematic teams. It is looking for short-term or event-driven traders and trading stategies involving an event or catalyst. It often operates in smaller markets where lower liquidity levels have prevented hedge funds from committing resources.
Its latest hire, however, comes from a hedge fund. Jonathan Giarmon, former CEO of ExodusPoint's Paris division, joined Maven as a portfolio manager in its Monaco office, which is home to three other portfolio managers. Giarmon, who was working on mid-frequency statistical arbitrage, left ExodusPoint back in 2023 when the fund shuttered its Paris office. The office was closed for cost-cutting reasons, with a number of staff from Giarmon's team relocating to London.
At Maven, Giarmon will be working on intraday and extraday prop trading. He previously spent 12 years at BNP Paribas, where he held various position from Head of Algorithmic and Portfolio Trading to Global Head of Internalization
In London, Maven has also hired Alex Barber, an ex-Citi banker who spent the last decade at Sand Grove Capital Management, an event-driven alternative investment management firm. Barber was previously an investment banking analyst at Citi in London.
Working at Maven can be lucrative. Across its two UK entites, 'wages and salaries' for its 323 employees averaged £222.7k ($301k) per head in 2024. Maven also allows employees to buy shares in the fund, a la Renaissance Technologies. Its UK entities generated £12m in profit last year and £10m in profit the year before.
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