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Walleye Capital

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Walleye Capital LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryInvestment management
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Founders
  • Irvin Kessler
  • Pete Goddard
HeadquartersNew York City, U.S.
Key people
Will England (CEO & CIO)
AUMUS$6.8 billion (September 2024)
Number of employees
350 (September 2024)
Websitewalleyecapital.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Walleye Capital (Walleye) is an American multi-strategy hedge fund management firm headquartered in New York with additional offices outside the US in London and Dubai.

Background

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In 2005, Walleye was originally set up as an options market making firm in Minnesota by Irving Kessler, Peter Goddard, and three others.[3][4][5] Prior to this Kessler who was an experienced floor trader had founded Deephaven Capital Management.[3][4]

The founders of Walleye intended for it to perform electronic trading that used data and fast computers to earn profits for its clients.[3][6] Goddard oversaw the development of a system called Deephaven that enabled Walleye analysts to query large amounts of fast-moving data in real time which gave its clients competitive advantage.[6]

According to Walleye's own disclosures, as a trading firm it has been fined multiple time for breach of regulatory rules.[2]

In 2016, Goddard spun out Deephaven Data Labs as its own company to use the Deephaven system to solve data challenges in other ways.[6]

In 2017, Walleye started accepting outside capital and restructured to become a hedge fund. Walleye changed its strategy with aims to shed its Midwestern image and become the best midsize multi-strategy platform. It limited capital managed so it could put more of its risk into its volatility and quant strategies.[7][5]

In 2023, Walleye launched Dockside Platforms which connects investors to smaller Money Managers that charge lower fees and offer more liquidity and transparency. This was considered a method provide more options and chip away at the bargaining power that larger hedge funds held such as Citadel LLC, Millennium Management, LLC and Point72 Asset Management.[8]

In March 2024, Walleye laid off 12 employees (4% of employees) as part of its restructuring process.[5] In August 2024, Walleye laid off a further 12 employees and closed its office in Houston.[9] In October 2024, further cuts were made with 8 traders leaving the firm.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Walleye Trading LLC" (PDF). FINRA. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Bison Advisors LLC v. Kessler, Civil No. 14-3121(DSD/SER) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Irvin Kessler, Principal / Chairman" (PDF). Provident Real Estate Ventures.
  5. ^ a b c Kumar, Devika Krishna (March 14, 2024). "Hedge Fund Walleye Eliminates a Dozen People in Restructuring". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Woodie, Alex (August 19, 2021). "From Wall Street to Main Street: Inside Deephaven's Big Data Journey". Datanami. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  7. ^ Saacks, Bradley (December 18, 2023). "How under-the-radar multi-manager hedge funds are balancing their ambitions — and avoiding becoming the next Schonfeld". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Saacks, Bradley (August 2, 2023). "The new platform giving big hedge funds a run for their money". Semafor. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  9. ^ Tan, Gillian (August 5, 2024). "Hedge Fund Walleye Dismisses a Dozen Staff, Including Equity Capital Markets Head". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  10. ^ Shaw, William (October 29, 2024). "Walleye Cuts Five Traders Including Global Macro Head Anuraj Dua". Bloomberg News. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
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