Walleye cuts equity long-short head after October loss

In a letter to investors seen by Business Insider, England said Walleye was reviewing “every aspect” of the firm after its worst month since March 2020. The firm declined to comment, and Gondi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gondi joined Walleye in July 2025. He previously worked for years as a stock-picking portfolio manager at Balyasny Asset Management and founded 6elm Capital, according to his LinkedIn profile. The departure follows the September exit of stock-picking unit COO Matt Giannini, who returned to Citadel, Business Insider previously reported.

England said Walleye had spent considerable effort improving its internal equity business, including bringing in new leadership, but the effort had not delivered the expected results. The resources and opportunity cost, he wrote, were too high relative to returns.

Walleye plans to keep trading stocks. Its internal teams will report to England, while the firm will continue investing in externally run stock-picking funds and hiring internal portfolio managers. It recently hired Anna Dev, formerly in business development at Millennium, to help identify external opportunities. Business Insider has reported that Walleye is among multi-strategy platforms investing in funds launched by former Citadel traders, including Tommaso Trento’s Benchstone Capital and Fifthdelta, run by Niall O’Keeffe and Tio Charbaghi.

October was difficult for hedge funds broadly. Equity-heavy firms Point72 Asset Management and Schonfeld Strategic Partners also lost money. The S&P 500 fell roughly 1% amid sell-offs in large technology stocks including Meta and Intel. Short-selling bets against companies rose close to five-year highs, according to Goldman Sachs data.