Christian Dalban, the ex-global co-head of equity derivatives at JPMorgan in London and Clemens Lansing, European head of flow derivatives trading and relative value at the firm, are planning to launch a hedge fund together.
Dalban, reached on his cell phone, said the vehicle will be a credit and equity, cash and derivatives fund, based in London. It will likely run a capital structure arbitrage strategy, but Dalban declined to give any details or target size. "It's early days," he noted, also declining comment on any prospective launch date for the fund, which will likely be named Altair Global Micro Fund. Lansing could not be reached.
The City is buzzing with talk of the duo's plans. Over the last year, Mehmet Dalman, former board member at Commerzbank with responsibility for investment banking, launched WMG, with USD1 billion under management and Eric Mindich, former senior strategy officer at Goldman Sachs, launched Eton Park with USD3 billion. "Big names draw big money," noted one market official.
Former colleagues of Dalban and Lansing said they were good managers and very smart. But officials also noted the pair has not traded actively themselves for some years, so will likely look to hire traders. One hedge fund watcher said JPMorgan may put up seed capital for the fund, Dalban and Sarah Oppler, spokeswoman for JPMorgan, declined comment. Dalban and Lansing left JPMorgan in early spring this year, replaced by David Hertberg, former head of equity prop trading (DW, 5/27).
