Hedge fund Eisler Capital hires Damien Bombelli – sources

By Stefania Spezzati and Nell Mackenzie

LONDON (Reuters) – Eisler Capital has recruited Damien Bombelli, whose background in commodities could help the hedge fund bolster a less profitable part of its business, according to one source with knowledge of the move and a regulator filing. 

Bombelli, who has worked at investment firms and banks including Millennium Capital Management and JP Morgan Chase & Co., will join the $3.5 billion fund in a role allowing him to deal with client funds, according to the website of Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Bombelli and a spokesperson for Eisler in London declined to comment.

The sources did not say when Bombelli would begin his role at Eisler, nor where he would be based.

The FCA register showed he was approved to work at Eisler Capital UK on Dec. 5.

He worked at JP Morgan as a proprietary trader on the macro desk, according to his LinkedIn’s profile, and left the firm in 2010 after U.S. rules prevented banks from using their own books to bet on markets.

In 2011, he started hedge-fund Strand Asset Management to invest in metals, grains and energy. More recently, he worked at Millennium Capital Management’s Singapore offices until 2018, managing portfolios which traded from macro economic indicators, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Eisler’s year-to-date performance as of Nov. 30 was up 14.8%. However, the commodities portion of the hedge fund’s portfolio was down slightly, according to an investor letter seen by Reuters.

The investment firm, set up by Edward Eisler in 2015, has offices in London and Cambridge in Britain, as well as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris and Milan.

(This story has been corrected to clarify sourcing in the first paragraph)

(Reporting by Stefania Spezzati and Nell Mackenzie; Editing by MarkPotter)