(Bloomberg) -- Millennium Management rehired energy trader Phillip Ramage as a senior portfolio manager and is creating a central research team for its commodities business as the hedge fund revamps the unit to better compete with rivals.
Power trader Bob Greco also is joining the firm as a portfolio manager, people familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, commodities traders Benoit Bosc, Jeffrey Krol and Aaron Fu are exiting, the people said. A spokesperson for Millennium declined to comment.
Izzy Englander’s firm has been working to close the gap with Ken Griffin’s Citadel — which generated bumper profits in its commodities business in recent years — including by separating its commodities unit under Anthony Dewell last year. Dewell’s group is now creating a new research unit, which will work in addition to the investment teams’ own research, the people added.
The new team’s focus will include quantitative modeling and fine-tuning portfolio analysis, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information was private. The firm plans to hire more meteorology and AI experts, they said.
Millennium has seen a slew of personnel changes in its commodities business, including the departures of some senior portfolio managers. The group has also made some major hires — such as adding Carl Hössler as a senior portfolio manager recently to trade gas and power — and set up new specialized pods, such as Ian Virga’s team of natural gas traders. Ramage is rejoining Millennium after a stint at BP Plc.
Overall, Millennium still has approximately 50 traders in commodities, one of the people said.
Dewell is likely to make more changes as he seeks to increase commodities profits that have been largely flat in the last couple of years, the people said. Trading across the commodities industry has been more challenging this year as volatility calms and obvious opportunities dry up.
Millennium, which manages about $69 billion, was up about 8.1% this year through August.
Of the traders who are leaving, Bosc joined the team as an oil trader last year after a stint in cryptocurrency markets, and Krol was previously a crude trader at Glencore. Aaron Fu traded across commodities, including natural gas, oil and metals. He was previously with Pimco, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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