There is strong demand for marketers in the hedge fund industry as many funds are looking to hire talented marketers to help with capital raising efforts. Recruiters are tracking an unusually high number of open marketing positions, with 47 current openings being tracked by one recruiter specializing in marketing roles. Demand is coming from equity funds looking to build on recent gains as well as strategies that have underperformed seeking to retain assets through improved marketing. Credit fund managers are also hiring marketers out of concern that rising interest rates could cause investors to pull back from the strategy. Experienced institutional marketers with strong product knowledge and understanding of investors are in highest demand.

1. Recruiters See Strong Demand for Marketers
The hedge fund hiring picture looks especially bright for
marketing professionals.
Jensen Partners, a hedge fund recruiter specializing in marketing roles, is tracking 47 current openings — an unusually
high number. “The market is exponentially higher this year
compared to last,” said founder Sasha Jensen.
That view is shared by other executive-search professionals
targeting the hedge fund industry (see listing on Pages 5-7).
Atlantic Group, for example, has a mandate from a $4 billion
fund operator to fill marketing positions in New York and San
Francisco, while simultaneously searching for a “senior fundraiser” on behalf of a $500 million manager.
“The trend in hiring is clearly around capital-raisers,” said
Lou Molinari, global head of capital introduction at Barclays.
Some of the hiring activity reflects efforts by equity-focused
managers to build on their capital-raising momentum following a year of strong investment gains and steady, if unspectacular, inflows. But demand for savvy marketers also can be
defensive in nature. Managers running strategies that have
underperformed of late — particularly global-macro and managed futures — are looking to build or expand in-house marketing staffs in an effort to shore up their assets.
Consider that the HFRI Macro (Total) Index has dropped for
three years in a row, and fell another 1.1% in January. Global
macro was one of the few hedge fund strategies that experienced net outflows last year, according to Hedge Fund Research.
Managed futures is another strategy that has performed poorly,
with the BarclayHedge CTA Index dropping by 1.5% to 3.1%
in each of the past three years. Desperate to retain investors
and attract fresh capital, a number of managers running those
strategies want to hire top-notch marketing talent.
Credit-product managers also are hiring — not because of
past performance problems, but out of concern that investors
will pull back from the strategy as interest rates rise. “Credit
managers are freaking out because rates are going up,” another
headhunter said. “There is an over-representation of credit
in many investors’ portfolios because credit has performed
so well. So, many are redeeming in favor of equity strategies.
These [credit] managers are like, ‘Holy cow, I better get a good
marketer to retain assets and spin a story that is better than all
the other funds out there.’ “
A big opportunity among credit-focused managers just
opened up at Taconic Partners, a New York fund operation
with some $8.4 billion under management. Laura Rose, a senior member of Taconic’s marketing team credited with raising a substantial chunk of assets for the firm, is leaving to take
a break from the industry. Taconic plans to fill the vacancy, a
source said.
Rose is one of five marketing staffers under David Mullane,
who joined Taconic last year from BlackRock. Executive recruiters already are looking at Rose as an excellent placement
prospect if and when she returns to the field. “I think people
will be lucky to grab her,” one recruiter said.
Among hedge fund managers with openings for marketers,
the emphasis is on seasoned professionals with deep knowledge of the industry. In addition to a fat Rolodex, marketers
are expected to be intimately familiar with complex investment
strategies, as well as the risk-return profiles of all types of institutional investors.
Janice Abert of Abert Associates said managers are looking
for “institutional marketers with strong product knowledge.”
“Business developers who can speak as a surrogate for portfolio managers help reduce a firm’s sales-related expenses and
enable the PMs to do their job of managing money,” she said.
“Many marketers now have CFA designations in addition to
MBAs. Many began their careers in a product-development or
management role.”
Added Alexis DuFresne, who helps run Atlantic Group’s
hedge fund practice: “I also now look for sell- or buy-side analyst experience at the beginning of one’s career, which assures
me that there’s a basic building block of financial knowledge.”
Jensen’s clients want marketers who thoroughly understand
the needs of institutional investors. Specifically, they’re looking
for professionals who can plug into “defined distribution channels” and assume responsibility for specific classes of clients
such as pension consultants and family offices.
In addition to marketers, compliance officers and other operations professionals continue to be in demand as fund operators grapple with new regulatory mandates and increasingly
rigorous due-diligence reviews by institutional investors. “When
investors look to allocate money to a hedge fund, they look for
infrastructure,” said Justin Press, co-head of prime brokerage at
BTIG, which caters to small and mid-size fund operators. “Having
a chief operating officer is a check-the-box item.” 
HEDGE FUND ALERT: February 19, 2014, 5 Marine View Plaza, Suite 400, Hoboken NJ 07030. 201-659-1700