Hedge-fund stars are making so much now that they are hiring agents

Top hedge-fund recruits are getting hounded with job offers that would pay them like Hollywood stars or pro athletes. So why don’t they also have agents representing them?

- Peter Rudegeair

That's the idea Ryan Walsh had about a year ago when he launched a talent agency dedicated to stock pickers, bond traders and other investment professionals that he believes is the first of its kind. A former portfolio manager at firms including Citadel and Millennium Management, Walsh is now parlaying his own experience to help clients navigate a manic marketplace for hedge-fund jobs.

“I'm looking to be the Scott Boras of the hedge-fund world,” said Walsh, referring to the baseball superagent who negotiated record-breaking contracts for major-league sluggers like Juan Soto and Bryce Harper. Hanging on the wall of his office is a work of art featuring Ari Gold, the fictional agent from the TV series “Entourage.”

Elite hedge funds are flush with more capital than ever, especially multimanager funds that parcel out tens of billions of dollars across hundreds of semiautonomous teams. Their need to hire enough people to deploy that money profitably has prompted bidding wars for proven performers and high-profile poachings.

Walsh, 43, said he has helped 12 clients land jobs as portfolio managers in deals worth a combined $180 million since launching his firm, Laurel Lake Advisors. Citadel and Millennium are among the firms that he says have hired his clients, which include analysts who moved into roles overseeing their own portfolio of investments and portfolio managers willing to switch teams when the right offers came along.