Millennium backs two hedge fund teams with about $1.8 billion

Chris Tuzzo and Warren Empey, who previously worked at Kepos Capital, are coming in to run about $800 million under Millennium’s NorthArrow Capital brand

Millennium Management is backing two new investment teams with about $1.8 billion as the multistrategy hedge fund giant deploys more cash both inside and outside the firm.

New York-based Scopia Capital Management is getting about $1 billion to manage externally for Millennium, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Chris Tuzzo and Warren Empey, who previously worked at Kepos Capital, are coming in to run about $800 million under Millennium’s NorthArrow Capital brand, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.

Scopia, which currently manages about $1.2 billion in assets, will run Millennium’s cash in a separately managed account, following an equity long-short market neutral strategy it has operated since 2001, the people said. Empey and Tuzzo will use a merger arbitrage strategy, they added.

Representatives for Scopia and Millennium declined to comment.

A growing number of standalone hedge funds are landing cash from multistrats, which are flush with capital and seeking to parcel out some of their money to outside talent. Millennium is one of the most aggressive in doing so, with external managers representing about a tenth of its more than 330 investment teams. Many of the outside traders run capital exclusively for the $70.2 billion firm.

Millennium’s other recent recipients include Val Zlatev’s Analog Century Management and Hong Kong-based Centerline Investment Management. The firm also gave $3 billion to Diego Megia’s Taula Capital Management that started trading earlier this year and is set to back a new firm launched by Coatue Management’s Aaron Weiner with billions of dollars, Bloomberg has reported.

Jeremy Mindich and Matt Sirovich co-founded Scopia in 2001, with managing partner Jerome Lande joining the firm in 2016. The firm’s global market-neutral strategy has produced an annualized return of about 7% since launch, according to an investor document seen by Bloomberg.