Star trader's hedge fund paying $1.3m likes junior bankers & Goldman MDs
It's 3 years since Hamza Lemssouger, the ex-Credit Suisse credit trading star left the Swiss bank to start his own hedge fund, Arini Capital. He's now aged 33 and is turning out to be a very generous employer.
Arini currently employs 67 people in London, up from 25 at the end of 2023 and none in 2022. Another ten or so are understood to be in the pipeline.
Lemssouguer's hires this year include Nabil Aquedim, formerly an MD in Goldman Sachs' real estate team. Aquedim joined Arini as its head of real estate and asset backed strategies in July. Aquedim is a star in his own right, and a "a pleasure to work with." He left Goldman Sachs in March, calling his decision "probably... the hardest in my life."
In January, Lemssouguer also hired Rick Matilla, the former head of European corporate credit research at Bank of America. Matilla spent five years at Credit Suisse between 2018 and 2022, so he and Lemssouguer were former colleagues.
One of Arini's most recent hires is Elliott Nagelmackers, a former associate in Credit Suisse's investment bank. He had transitioned to UBS, but ultimately decided Arini was the better gig.
Arini's early joiners received some large pay packages. Last year it paid a total of $87.2m in 'salaries and wages' according to accounts filed with Companies House. This is thought to include guaranteed bonuses for employees still on gardening leave. If Arini had 67 employees, including those in the pipeline, this would mean it paid $1.3m on average.
That money seems well spent. Bloomberg reported in January that Arini's $2.7bn Credit Master Fund has returned 32% since its launch in 2022. This is exactly quadruple the average return for credit hedge funds in 2023.
Arini is expanding business lines as well as headcount. Bloomberg reported last October that it was diversifying by lending to distressed borrowers in private credit.
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