Desert Funds, Island Lessons: What hedge funds in the Middle East have learned from the Cayman Islands

From hands-on training to mentorship and real-world exposure, the Point72 Academy works with students and interns to demystify the industry and prepare them for careers in investing. Whether you're a student curious about hedge funds or a professional interested in how top firms develop talent, this conversation offers valuable insights into what it takes to break in—and stand out. Listen in as our Jamie McDonald sits down with Jaimi Goodfriend, Head of Investment Professional Development and Point72 Academy Director. Chapters (00:00:00) - Hedge Fund Huddle wins an award(00:01:00) - Point72 Academy's programs(00:03:27) - Jaimi Goodfriend's career(00:05:10) - The academy's origins(00:07:48) - The qualities that make great investors(00:09:37) - Attracting top talent(00:11:49) - Day in the life of an intern(00:13:35) - Transitioning from Analyst to Portfolio Manager(00:17:55) - An apprenticeship culture(00:22:02) - The numbers(00:23:40) - Strategies(00:26:30) - Advice to future investors

We are seeing a boom in hedge funds in the Middle East but what does it really mean to do business there and what is driving that growth? To help us discuss this topic, Jamie is joined by Chude Chidi-Ofong from Montague Square, Rob Thomas from Centralist Group, and LSEG's Jim Backhouse. What is it like living there? Investing there? And just how do the trends of domiciling in the Cayman Islands translate to the Middle East? Have a listen to our latest episode to find out.

On May 7, 2025, a group gathered in NYC and had the chance to experience the Huddle in person by taking part in an evening filled with fascinating stories and insights from past hedge fund managers. It was a behind-the-scenes look into their world as they shared their personal journeys, key moments, and the lessons they learned throughout their careers. These stories from the frontlines were recorded and are now available in our latest episode of the Hedge Fund Huddle. Listen as we are joined by our moderator, Michael Smith, Global Director, Customer Strategy & Execution at LSEG, Jamie McDonald, Hedge Fund Huddle podcast host, Derek Wallis, Author of ‘Occupy a Job on Wall Street,’ and Tracy Castle-Newman, Retired Managing Director, Morgan Stanley. We want to hear from you! If you've got questions, comments or would like to be a guest on the Huddle, get in touch with us at [email protected].

We have reached the third and final episode in our recent series on the psychology of trading. Learning to understand what you are good at and where you can use improvement is beneficial in life as well as on the trading desk. In this episode, we are joined by two well-established veterans in the financial performance coaching industry to help break this idea down plus more. Let’s hear from Peter Burditt and Steven Goldstein.

In this episode, we explore the growing role of fixed income in the hedge fund space as firms increasingly diversify beyond traditional equity strategies. As market dynamics evolve, and electronic trading grows, hedge funds are turning to fixed income for new opportunities. David Rickard, Global Head of Fixed Income Trading Workflows at LSEG and Roderick Joniaux, Head of European Government Bonds and Supranational Products at Tradeweb, join us to talk about what this could mean for the future of the industry.

Is it skill or luck? Something we may not often consider or evaluate when trading. But, by using performance data, you should be able to analyse how to better execute trades based on certain factors. Did you ever consider what sorts of markets you are better at trading in or are certain performance biases holding you back? In the second episode in our series on the psychology of trading, we look to answer these questions and more. We are joined by Clare Flynn Levy, Founder and CEO of Essentia Analytics and we welcome back Dr. Richard Peterson who is a psychiatrist, and the CEO of MarketPsych. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction(00:01:48) - Clare's background(00:08:53) - Analysing performance as a fund manager(00:12:44) - Can unconventional approaches pay off?(00:19:26) - Navigating today's markets with optimisation(00:22:40) - Can our mindsets evolve with the markets?(00:27:38) - Short-term vs long-term(00:29:25) - Diagnosing alpha decay with data(00:35:49) - Sunk cost bias and the repurchase effect(00:39:15) - Why process matters

Confident, competitive, disciplined, introverted, anxious are just some of the traits that make up hedge fund traders. Some of them can be positive to one’s performance while others can tend to hurt potential and success. Traders are constantly learning how to deal with herd psychology, navigating bubbles and crashes as well as often trying to turn anxiety into something that is motivational and activates a game plan for success. Today we are kicking off a series focusing on the different pieces that help make up the psychology of trading and for our first episode, we are welcoming back two long-time experts in the field of psychology who work with traders to help them optimise performance on the desk and off. Dr. Richard Peterson is a psychiatrist, and the CEO of MarketPsych and Dr. Alden Cass is a licensed clinical psychologist and trading performance coach.

Exchange-traded funds, otherwise known as ETFs, have been growing in popularity and are expected to continue to do so in the future. Just what is it that makes them so attractive and are they something hedge funds should be paying more attention to? To help us find out we talk to Wesley Gray, CEO, Alpha Architect and Harley Bassman, Managing Partner at Simplify.

LSEG recently hosted an evening of thought-provoking discussion and networking in New York City exploring how hedge funds are harnessing Large Language Models (LLMs) and what practitioners can learn from LLM experts in the healthcare and finance industries. The discussions addressed the unique challenges hedge funds face in implementing LLMs, including data privacy, model accuracy, and regulatory concerns. We recently shared the first discussion, 'Separating best practice from hype: Lessons learned from early LLM adopters' and are now sharing the second discussion which was a fascinating fireside chat between Richard Goldman, Head of Strategy for Hedge Funds, LSEG and Stefano Pacifico, Co-Founder and CEO, Epistemic AI.

LSEG recently hosted an evening of thought-provoking discussion and networking in New York City exploring how hedge funds are harnessing Large Language Models (LLMs) and what practitioners can learn from LLM experts in the healthcare and finance industries. The discussions addressed the unique challenges hedge funds face in implementing LLMs, including data privacy, model accuracy, and regulatory concerns. The first discussion was moderated by Nicole Allen, Director of Product Text Analytics, LSEG and she was joined by Ted Merz, CFA, Founder, Principals Media, Aziz Lookman, PhD, Chief Analytics Officer, Rational AI and Sonu Chopra Khullar, PhD, Director Machine Learning Engineering, Capital One. Let’s now take a listen in to their fascinating panel discussion and stay tuned as we will shortly release part two of that evening’s agenda.