Citadel Investment Group has done relatively well for itself through the coronavirus outbreak. Sure, it hasn’t returned 36% like Mr. Seattle Basketball, but it also hasn’t lost 25%. Instead, it recovered from some early COVID-19 symptoms to return 1.2% last month, pretty good considering that the S&P 500 dropped 12.5%.
This nimbleness in the face of adversity can also be seen up the road from the ample social distancing space Griffin has assembled on the Florida coast, in the form of secured hotel in which he’s imprisoned 24 Citadel Securities staffers to make sure his little investment bank keeps up with the huge spikes in trading volume and volatility, no matter how long it requires keeping those employees away from their friends and families.
The firm opened a new, temporary trading floor in Palm Beach on Monday with 24 people, according to a memo from the firm to employees seen by Bloomberg…. The site — with capacity for 50 — is part of a hotel property that’s closed to the public, and the staff, who have been dispatched from Chicago and New York, will work and sleep there, according to the firm…. Citadel Securities built the infrastructure necessary for the Florida facility in less than a week.
Yup, he’s still an absolute joy to work for.
Of course, one of the largest liquidity providers in the world probably can’t operate with just 50 people, so it’s also introducing some additional social distancing measures.
The move followed an initial business-continuity plan that involved splitting the New York group into a new space and adding a temporary office in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Ken Griffin’s Virus Plan Now Includes Emergency Trading Site in Florida [Bloomberg]
Citadel Gains 1.2%, Gelband’s Firm Falls: Hedge Fund Update [Bloomberg Quint]
This Hedge Fund Saw Risks of Coronavirus Early. Now It’s Up 36% [WSJ]
Cheyne Credit Fund Lost 25% in March on Bets Hit by Coronavirus [Bloomberg]