Mony Rueven, a trader who ran D.E. Shaw & Co's institutional equities trading unit for almost six years, has joined CooperNeff's program trading operation in New York.
Rueven is running a newly-created entity, similar to the former D.E. Shaw unit, for CooperNeff, a BNP Paribas company. His team will execute portfolio trades for institutions, including principal trades with a BNP Paribas affiliate. Three pros from the D.E. Shaw unit are also on board at the King of Prussia, Pa. firm.
CooperNeff's Enhanced Portfolio Strategies unit takes the firm into new territory in program trading under the command of a seasoned pro. Until now, trading in portfolios of stocks was for its proprietary account. "We want to help institutions find the best available execution for their traders, pure and simple," said Rueven, who has the title of managing director.
His new career comes as D.E. Shaw has struggled to regain its footing. In late 1998, the New York-based quant shop fired about one-quarter of its staff after its alliance with BankAmerica Corp. came apart during a fixed-income disaster. The firm's institutional equities group was later sold to Knight Trading Group (formally Knight/Trimark Inc.). Some high-profile names soon left D.E. Shaw, which was founded by the iconoclastic professor David Shaw.
CooperNeff is a quantitative trading and investment management firm with $15 billion in assets under management. Its listed trading volume averages up to 20 million shares daily. CooperNeff's BNP Paribas parent is based in Paris. The 200-person CooperNeff team includes pros in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Paris and Sydney.
