Top Singapore hedge fund Dymon Asia Capital ramps up Asia hires as regional funds find favour

[HONG KONG] US hedge fund giant Citadel and Singapore’s Dymon Asia Capital are adding talent in Asia, as they look to expand business in the region.

Citadel hired Ran Wei from Sylebra Capital as a portfolio manager focusing on technology, media and telecommunications, according to sources familiar with the matter, its third starting this month in Asia at Ken Griffin’s firm.

As previously reported by Bloomberg News, ex-Point72 portfolio managers Doris Yang and Jerry Jiang will also start in August at Citadel’s Hong Kong office. Yang will focus on China while Jiang will invest across consumer and TMT, one of the sources said. All three new hires will report to Sachin Kewalramani, Citadel’s head of Asia fundamental equities.

Regional platform rival Dymon is also growing with Hiroki Kawahara, Cicong Zhou and Wei Yan joining from JPMorgan Chase, Symmetry Investments and Infini Capital Management, respectively, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified sharing private matters.

Zhou and Kawahara, who trade macro and yen rates respectively, will start later this year, the sources said. Yan, a macro portfolio manager, commenced this week, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Spokespeople for Citadel and Dymon both declined to comment.

Hedge funds are beefing up their presence in Asia and seeking to diversify their portfolios and sources of returns, as regional markets have chalked up strong gains. Both Singapore and Hong Kong, which are hubs for global money managers, recorded strong growth in total assets under management last year.

Hedge fund assets under management in Singapore grew 37 per cent from a year earlier to S$327 billion at the end of 2024, while overall assets reached S$6.07 trillion.

Citadel has been expanding in both cities. Its International Equities group, which covers Europe and Asia, has added three teams in Singapore over the past year, while its commodities business also added a team there.

Dymon too has been growing across the region, as well as in the Middle East, after opening an office in Dubai. The Asia-focused hedge fund pod shop returned 9.75 per cent this year to July, outperforming many of its global peers.

But the growth has not been universal. One of Singapore’s longest-running hedge funds, New Silk Road Investment, is shutting down after weak returns and a retreat by US investors in Asia led to a sharp drop in assets. BLOOMBERG