Polar Asset Management grows workforce 15%, boosts strategies, and raises $300m fund
Polar Asset Management Partners has expanded its operations by opening a London office and increasing its workforce by 15 percent since early last year, according to BNN Bloomberg.
Among its new hires, Anna Litman Correa joined as a portfolio manager after spending more than a decade at Citigroup trading natural gas, and Mickael Soussant became a commodity risk director.
The firm also brought in Nikita Naychukov as director of treasury in October from Toronto-Dominion Bank. Owen Sharkie was hired as the UK-based director of business development and talent to assist in expanding the London office, which opened in the fall.
Polar’s flagship multistrategy fund returned 8.6 percent in 2024, marking its strongest performance since 2020.
The firm has invested in enhancing its technology, risk management, and treasury infrastructure as part of its strategy to drive returns.
In addition, Polar expanded its data engineering and data science capabilities, focusing on artificial intelligence products that collaborate with investment teams across asset classes globally.
The company employed roughly 160 people last year, with 126 based in Canada and the remainder working in London and New York.
To further diversify its investments, Polar raised $300m for a fund targeting synthetic risk transfers, a growing segment in credit markets where banks reduce loan exposure.
Multistrategy hedge funds, including Polar, experienced mostly double-digit gains in 2024. Many firms, responding to heightened volatility, particularly in natural gas and power, turned to commodities to boost profits.
Correa stated, “A trade war would be disastrous for both Canadian small businesses and consumers. We need to ensure that as governments face the tariff threat with their American counterparts, they must also stay focused on keeping Canadian businesses competitive at home.”
The Toronto-based firm, one of Canada’s largest hedge funds, oversees $6.3bn in assets and hired across multiple strategies, including commodities, equities, fixed income, and credit, to support its growth.
