World's Largest Currency Hedge Fund Faces Exodus With Dire Financials

(November 2, 2011) — FX Concepts, the world’s largest currency hedge fund, is experiencing an exodus — some forced, some unforced — of employees as the firm loses capital.

FX Concepts has recently lost three employees, an unnamed source tells aiCIO. The firm’s former head of investment research Jim Conklin left to go to Greenwich, Connecticut-based QFS Asset Management as director of research. Tim O’Grady left FX Concepts in September after two years at the firm as managing director of fixed-income, according to his LinkedIn profile. Brett Holleman — previously managing director and portfolio manager with the currency-trading firm — was also recently terminated. All three former employees are no longer listed on the firm’s employee page on its website.

FX Concepts refused to confirm or deny the information. “We won’t specify why employees were terminated — it’s proprietary information,” the firm’s Senior Vice President Raymond Sweeney tells aiCIO.  

“What’s really frustrating is that we’re supposed to do well in a lousy world market,” John Taylor, the founder of the New York-based firm, told Bloomberg. The firm reportedly lost 12% this year and assets under management fell to $5 billion from as much as $8 billion. “We’re doing very badly,” he said.