DRW Hires Ex-Millennium Portfolio Manager for Europe Gas Drive

(Bloomberg) -- DRW Holdings LLC’s European commodities trading unit is hiring Dale Gibbard, formerly of Millennium Management LLC, as the firm pushes to benefit from energy market volatility, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Prior to working as an energy trading senior portfolio manager at Millennium, Gibbard was a gas specialist at the Cumulus Energy Fund and then Citadel, when the firm started out on a hugely profitable bet on weather and analytics models. He is set to join DRW this month, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. 

Europe’s power and gas markets have become more attractive to hedge funds and trading shops because of a surge in volatility since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the stronger impact of global events on the once mainly regional markets. The recent loss of the Russian pipeline flows through Ukraine and Europe’s increased reliance on seaborne cargoes means the region faces more intense competition for the fuel, accentuating market highs and lows. 

At the same time, DRW is pushing into the world of physical commodities, following in the footsteps of other Wall Street trading titans. The success of longtime operator Citadel has set a benchmark for financial firms developing strategies in physical gas and power, while it also marks a return to models pioneered by smaller, specialist commodity funds during the China-led commodities “supercycle” of the early 2000s.

In Europe, Liliya Sharifzyanova — formerly of utility Uniper SE — has been developing the firm’s physical gas presence, while Richard Romance joined from Centrica Plc late last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. Last August, DRW received a gas shipper license from the UK’s Ofgem, allowing it to bring gas to the country via international pipelines.

Trading physical commodities means funds are able to access and arbitrage areas of the markets that aren’t covered by derivatives. But it also has inherent risks usually outside of the scope of traditional equities and bonds-focused players.

Founded in 1992 by Don Wilson, DRW has been active in commodity markets since 2002, according to its website.

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