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- Soren Gandrud is expected to begin trading in his new fund in 2026’s first quarter.
- Walleye Capital, the multistrategy fund run by Will England, is expected to be a day-one backer.
- Gandrud’s Jones Hill Capital will invest in healthcare and will raise at least $500 million.
From Millennium to Citadel, Soren Gandrud has traded for some of the biggest hedge funds in the world.
Now, he’s setting out on his own with backing from one of the industry’s up-and-coming players, $12 billion Walleye Capital, two people close to the funds told Business Insider.
His fund, Jones Hill Capital, is expected to raise at least $500 million, these people said, with capital from other backers in addition to Walleye. It is set to begin trading in the first quarter of 2026. The move is another example of how in-demand top traders from the biggest multistrategy funds are, with many striking out on their own with support from large firms.
Gandrud, who invests in the healthcare sector, hired industry veteran Marty Meekins as his chief operating officer and brought former Tourbillon and Balyasny investor Nik Khetarpal to his team.
Gandrud spent roughly three years at Millennium before leaving to start Jones Hill earlier this year. He previously spent a decade investing for Ken Griffin in Citadel’s Surveyor unit and worked as an analyst at Tiger Cub HealthCor Management.
Walleye declined to comment. Gandrud declined to comment through a spokesperson.
For NYC-based Walleye, investing in external funds is a way for the firm to get access to top talent. Within the firm’s long-short equity business, roughly half of the teams trading their capital are managed by independent hedge funds, including other offerings started by former Citadel portfolio managers such as Tommaso Trento’s Benchstone Capital and Chris Connor’s Ardmore Road Asset Management, a person close to Walleye said.
Multistrategy hedge funds have been in a protracted talent war, leading to firms like Millennium embracing external money managers to get their capital into the hands of top talent in whichever way the portfolio manager prefers.
Walleye’s strategy mix within its multistrategy fund, known as the Walleye Opportunities Fund, has been tweaked in recent years. In 2024, the manager decided to no longer run macro strategies, and Walleye cut its credit and commodities traders earlier this year.
The firm’s most recent performance update says the flagship fund consists of four strategies: quant, volatility, fundamental equities, and tactical. The firm is up 10.2% through August.
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