JPMorgan hired a trader who made MD aged 27 from a hedge fund
When you're a systematic trader in a bank who made $120m in three years and got promoted to MD at 27-years-old, it's natural for hedge funds to come calling. Such was the case with Maxwell Lee, who left Bank of America for Jain Global late last year. He was reported to have left Jain earlier this year for an unclear reason, however, and yesterday announced his return to banking.
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Lee, who is now aged 29, posted on LinkedIn yesterday that he is joining JPMorgan as a managing director. He spent the last ten months at Jain Global's Houston office in its commodities trading team. It's not clear what his new role will be at JPMorgan, nor whether he will be leaving Houston for his new role. Before that, he spent just under ten years at Bank of America, making MD in 2023 at the age of 27. At BofA, he was head of global commodities investor products.
Commodities is an area that Jain Global is still keen on, given that it acquired natural gas wholesale marketing firm Anahau Energy in September. The fund was reported to be up a modest 2.4% the month before Lee's departure, but it's not clear how the fund's commodities team specifically performed. Jain declined a request from Business Insider to comment on Lee's departure, but he was not the only trader in its commodities team to leave within a year of joining.
Other quant MDs are currently thriving after their own moves away from banking. Jesse Cohen was promoted to MD at Goldman Sachs as a 28-year-old quant strat; he left for Hudson River Trading in 2018 and has become a star at the firm, running its algorithmic trading team.
Staying in banking as a star trader can also work in your favour, though; Kunal Shah made Goldman Sachs MD at 27 then made partner aged 31. Lee's future may still be bright.
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