Nick Martin, portfolio manager – Polar Capital
Nick Martin squeaks into this year’s Rising Stars list by not hitting the magic 40 years old milestone until 2017.
Martin manages the Polar Capital Global Insurance Fund – a specialist insurance fund where he and the team execute all of the trading themselves.
In the past year, Martin’s trading strategy has served the fund well, navigating volatile waters and setting the fund apart from other financial funds in the UK equity sector.
He recalls: “In January / February, we upped our shareholding in a company called Essent (a US mortgage insurer) when markets were wobbly. We added some shares during that period and they rebounded particularly well.” Martin leads all trades in the fund with the assistance of analyst Dominic Evans.
Outside of work, Martin likes to play golf and spends most of his free time with his two boys, aged eight and five. He is also a recreational runner and a fan of Tottenham Hotspur and Gillingham Football Club.
Alexander McLachlan, dealer – Seven Investment Management
Seven Investment Management’s Alexander McLachlan joined the group as a dealer from Hargreaves Lansdown in May 2014.
Since joining the firm, McLachlan has undertaken further study to obtain his Level 7 Chartered Wealth Management Certificate with the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).
McLachlan is 7IM’s Order Management Team Leader and already holds several qualifications from the CISI including the Derivatives Certificate from his time at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for six and half years.
He is an Economics graduate from Cardiff University and works alongside last year’s Hot 100 multi-asset trader Darren Fancourt, who has since been promoted to head of trading for the firm.
Rajdeep Patgiri, Portfolio manager global macro strategies – BlackRock
Rajdeep Patgiri is a portfolio manager and quant research analyst in the Global Macro Strategies team at BlackRock. He has worked on both the sell-side and the buy-side before his current role.
Patgiri has been with the world’s largest asset manager for almost seven years, working on the development of systematic global macro models. He was previously part of the fixed income team at Barclays Global Investors prior to the merger of BlackRock with BGI.
He originally joined Merrill Lynch as an equities derivatives strategist in July 2007, where he worked for almost two years, looking at equity plays based on energy-related macro themes.
In April 2009, he joined BGI’s fixed income team as a quant researcher.
In recent years Patgiri’s profile has grown stronger, having had his theories published in academic journals.
He completed a PhD in Finance from INSEAD in 2007 and holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka.
Away from work he likes to ski and enjoys European cinema and paragliding.
Aidan Hsu, trader – Jump Trading
Exchange traded fund (ETF) specialist Aidan Hsu became the latest trader to move from the sell-side to high frequency trading (HFT), joining Jump Trading in June this year.
The move signalled the continued expansion of proprietary trading in the ETF market, which has traditionally been dominated by banks and asset managers.
Hsu has been involved in the ETF market since 2004, where he was an equity derivatives trader and ETF market maker at Susquehanna International Group for four years.
From there he became head of ETF trading at Liquid Capital Group in 2009, before being poached by Credit Suisse in 2011 and becoming European head of ETF trading and one it’s most senior traders.
He was then tapped by proprietary trading firm Getco, which then became KCG, as a managing director and head of ETFs and equities.
Hsu has a professional teaching qualification in computer science from University College Dublin, as well as a BSc degree in economics and finance.