Brevan Howard, a London-based fixed-income hedge fund with over GBP1 billion (USD1.8 billion) under management, has hired former Bank of America energy derivatives trader Stephane Nicolas to spearhead a push into oil trading. Market watchers said the fund has been talking to potential recruits since early this year and is now gearing up to begin trading before year-end. Reached at Brevan Howard's Canary Wharf office, Nicolas declined to comment and a call to James Morrison, an investor relations official, was not returned.
Brevan Howard was set up last summer by five Credit Suisse First Boston interest-rate derivatives traders, Alan Howard, Chris Rokos, Jean-Philippe Blochet, Trifon Natsis and James Vernon, according to press reports. The hedge fund joins a swathe of U.S. and European hedge funds looking to enter the energy markets on the back of soaring oil prices and increased price volatility.
