Hong Kong hedge fund Torq Capital winds down as founder heads for Citadel
- Torq, which was seeded by Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital, managed more than US$1.5 billion at its peak
- Founder Avinash Abraham will join Citadel’s Asia fundamental equities team as portfolio manager later this year
Hong Kong-based hedge fund Torq Capital Management is closing up shop after more than seven years of operation, with its founder and chief investment officer, Avinash Abraham, moving to Citadel, the companies said.
The market-neutral fund focusing on Asian equities was founded in 2016 by Abraham, former head of Asia for Balyasny Asset Management and a former portfolio manager at Citadel, which is among the world’s biggest and most profitable hedge funds.
Torq, seeded by Alibaba Group Holding co-founder Joe Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital, grew to manage more than US$1.5 billion at its peak.
“Torq has commenced an orderly wind down of its operations and will return capital to investors over the next few months,” Kendall Johnson, chief operating officer at Torq, said in a statement on Friday. Bloomberg News first reported Abraham’s departure and Torq’s planned closure.
Abraham will join Citadel’s Asia fundamental equities team as portfolio manager later this year, Citadel said in a separate statement. Citadel, founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, has tripled its headcount in Asia since 2019 to about 200 employees.