- Robert Tau, a top macro PM at Balyasny, is joining Millennium and bringing along members of his team.
- Tau joined Balyasny in 2020 and was a top Asia macro producer.
- The move comes amid a cooling market for macro hedge fund talent after a hiring frenzy in 2023.
One of Balyasny's top macro portfolio managers is leaving and is set to join rival Millennium next year.
Robert Tau, a star fixed-income macro trader for Balyasny in Asia, is joining $68 billion Millennium in 2025 as a senior portfolio manager and bringing along members of his team, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public.
Representatives for Balyasny and Millennium declined to comment.
Tau is based in Hong Kong and joined Balyasny in 2020, where he became one of the top macro performers, according to people familiar with the matter. He started his career in equity derivatives at Morgan Stanley in 2005 before spending nearly 12 years in Asia macro trading at Goldman Sachs, according to his LinkedIn bio.
Tau will be among a growing number of external Millennium PMs with a separately managed account arrangement, a setup that typically allows a manager flexibility to raise outside capital after a certain period of time.
The hire is a major move in an otherwise tepid market for macro hedge fund talent. Following their extraordinary performance in 2022, macro PMs were in high demand last year and earning eye-popping eight-figure guarantees.
The frenzy has died down after the rash of hiring in 2023 coupled with poor returns last year in macro strategies, though top-tier performers are still commanding high bids, people familiar with PM hiring said.
