$5 billion hedge fund LMR Partners poached Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s top equity derivatives boss in the US

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The US head of equity derivatives at Bank of America Merrill Lynch quit this week after less than two years at the bank.
He’s headed to LMR Partners, a $5 billion hedge-fund launched in 2009 and run by ex-UBS traders.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s top equity derivatives boss in the Americas is leaving after less than two years, and he’s headed for hedge-fund LMR Partners.

After an eight-year run with Barclays, William "Bill" Hillegass joined BAML in 2017, heading up equity client solutions and running equity derivatives out of New York.

He quit the firm, Business Insider reported this week, and he’s joining LMR Partners, a multi-strategy fund founded and run by ex-UBS traders Ben Levine and Stefan Renold, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hillegass, LMR Partners, and Bank of America declined to comment.

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Hillegass may have crossed paths with Levine and Renold at UBS, where he started his career in 2003. He left for Lehman Brothers in 2007 just before the financial crisis, followed by his run at Barclays, according to his LinkedIn profile.

LMR, which was founded in 2009 and has offices in Hong Kong, London, and New York, manages more than $5 billion in assets, according to its website.

A private-equity fund run by Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management bought a minority stake in hedge fund last year, according to Reuters.

Hillegass will manage portfolio out of the New York office, the people said.

He’s is one of a slew of sell-side equity derivatives traders to switch posts in the past year amid a rebound in the business and a war for talent.

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