Teza, WorldQuant Open Armenian Offices to Tap Russian Talent
Proprietary trader XTX Markets operates in Yerevan
Russian emigrants further Armenia’s growth as tech center
Excerpt
Originally published May 5, 2023 at 8:00am EST
Mikhail Malyshev’s search for budding tech talent has taken his quant firm Teza Capital Management to the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
Teza is one of several quant firms that have set up shop in the city asPresident Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine fuels an exodus of Russians from their homeland. Others include WorldQuant, a fund backed by Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management, and XTX Markets, a London-based proprietary trading firm.“
Quant funds have to compete with banks and asset managers to hire the astrophysicists, mathematicians and programmers who can turbo-charge their algorithm-driven strategies. While some funds have scored talent from Silicon Valley tech giants, other founders with roots in Eastern Europe have turned to Armenia.
“All of a sudden there is a supply-demand opportunity” in Armenia, saidMalyshev, a theoretical physicist who goes by Misha. “You don’t get much experience in asset management yet” in Armenia, Malyshev, 54, said in a phone interview, “but you get very good brainpower.”
WorldQuant and XTX declined to comment. […]