Qube Hires Portfolio Managers for New Internal Equity Long-Short Unit

London-based quant fund Qube is hiring portfolio managers to launch an internal equity long-short business, Insider reported. The $50 billion firm has previously backed only externally managed fundamental equity funds. The new division will operate under Naveen Baid, who joined Qube in 2020 from Morgan Stanley.

Each portfolio manager will control their own trades and portfolios in a structure modeled on a multimanager equity fund. Qube's assets have surged more than 300 percent since the start of 2024. The hiring marks the firm's first internal group of human investors.

Last fall Qube assembled a team of sector-focused analysts whose trade ideas feed into former Balyasny executive Stephen Irvine. Irvine's group functions as an alpha capture program that compiles ideas into a best-ideas portfolio. Qube declined to comment.

The firm already maintains exposure to fundamental equity managers through external investments.