Millennium Management has signed a deal that will see the hedge fund group return to its former offices in London’s Mayfair after a complete overhaul and extension.
Izzy Englander’s multi-strategy hedge fund firm has rented the entire 175,000 square feet (16,258 square meters) of office space at 50 Berkeley Street, according to an emailed statement.
The company has agreed a long-term lease for the recently redeveloped building which will act as its European headquarters, it said in the statement.
The expansion comes as hedge funds compete furiously to hire top trading talent. Rivals from Citadel, Balyasny to Point72 are bolstering teams as they look to take advantage of the return of market volatility and an insatiable demand from investors for their diversified approach to making money.
Millennium, where more than 310 teams of money managers invest its $61.4 billion across asset classes, is at the forefront of the recruitment drive. Recently, it tried to strike an unprecedented partnership deal with rival Schonfeld Strategic Advisors.
While a number of such hedge funds have expanded regionally and in the Middle East, London remains their main hub.
Millennium, which has also expanded its operations to Dublin, Dubai and Tel Aviv in the EMEA region in recent years, employs more than 5,500 people globally.
Millennium had been based in 50 Berkeley Street since 2004 but moved out ahead of the refurbishment. It is currently based in a nearby temporary office at 20 Grosvenor Street, a building run by Blackstone Inc. and Brockton Capital’s flexible office operator Fora that was previously home to a private members club run by KPMG.
Vacancy rates in London’s up-market Mayfair and St James’s districts remain near historic lows, despite the impact of increased flexible working on the wider London office market.
That’s because companies are increasingly willing to pay to secure the best space in the most desirable areas in order to lure workers back.
