Citadel has made a significant hire by bringing in Nabeel Bhanji, a senior portfolio manager and equity partner from rival Elliott Investment Management. Bhanji will assume a global leadership and investment role within Citadel's international equities business, suggesting a strategic move by the firm. This appointment comes as Citadel, founded in 1990, continues to be a dominant force in the hedge fund industry, managing $65 billion in assets across various strategies.
This move follows another recent hire from Elliott: Pawel Serej, who joined Citadel's London team as an Event-Driven Portfolio Manager focusing on risk arbitrage. While Serej's departure from Elliott preceded Bhanji's, and the hires are reportedly unrelated, both individuals collaborated closely on several high-profile activist campaigns at Elliott, including those involving SoftBank, Swedish Match, and Toshiba. These hires indicate that Citadel, which has not traditionally been known for activist investing, may be looking to integrate such strategies into its approach.
Elliott Investment Management, where Bhanji was an equity partner for 14 years, manages $70 billion in assets and is known for its activist campaigns. Bhanji's experience includes serving on the board of Toshiba Corporation. Citadel's international equities division, led by Drew Gillanders, has offices in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and employs over 85 investment professionals as of April 2026. The division focuses on fundamental long/short and equity capital markets strategies across sectors like consumer, financials, healthcare, industrials, and technology, media, and telecom.
