Hedge fund recruitment agency
A hedge fund recruitment agency for the people who run the fund
Rainmakrr recruits the senior people behind a hedge fund’s investment team.
We search for chief operating officers, CFOs, heads of risk, compliance officers, heads of investor relations and senior operations leads.
We work with launches, growing managers and established firms in the UK and Europe.
- COO and CFO
- Risk and compliance
- Investor relations
- Run by Fractional Quest Ltd
How a search runswhat we undertake
- 01BriefThe seat, the fund or company stage, and what the hire must deliverCall
- 02MapThe firms, funds and companies where that experience sitsResearch
- 03ApproachConfidential conversations with people who fit the briefOutreach
- 04ShortlistAssessed candidates, with references we take ourselvesReport
- 05OfferInterviews, offer and the notice period, managed to a start dateClose
First step15 min call
01/ roles
Hedge fund roles we recruit for
The non-investment leadership of a hedge fund.
Pick a role.
OPERATIONS
Chief operating officer
The COO runs everything outside the portfolio: operations, technology, service providers, finance and often compliance.
At a launch the COO is frequently the first non-investment hire.
FINANCE
Chief financial officer
The CFO owns the management company’s finances, fund accounting oversight, the administrator relationship and audit.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Head of risk
Risk sits independently of the portfolio managers and reports on market, liquidity and counterparty risk.
A full-scope UK alternative investment fund manager must functionally and hierarchically separate risk management from portfolio management, under FUND 3.7.2 in the FCA Handbook.
REGULATION
Chief compliance officer
Compliance covers the firm’s FCA obligations, market abuse surveillance and, for US investors, SEC requirements.
Compliance oversight is a senior management function under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
CAPITAL
Head of investor relations
Investor relations runs capital raising, investor reporting and due diligence with allocators.
Industry due diligence questionnaires, such as those published by AIMA, shape much of the work.
02/ stage
Hiring by stage of the fund
What a hedge fund needs changes as it grows.
Which sounds like you?
A new manager needs a COO who can set up service providers, regulatory permissions and operational due diligence.
- → COO, often combined with CFO
- → FCA authorisation or a host platform; check permissions on the FCA register
More capital and more strategies bring separate finance, risk and compliance leads.
- → Head of risk
- → Chief compliance officer
- → Head of investor relations
Larger allocators expect a deep operations bench and independent controls.
- → CFO separate from COO
- → Operations and technology leads
- → Board and governance roles
03/ the brief
Brief a hedge fund hire
What to settle before a search starts.
0 of 8 ready
04/ guide
Working with a hedge fund recruitment agency
Hedge fund recruitment for operations, finance, risk and compliance is a specialist field because the roles combine regulation, fund structures and investor scrutiny.
Regulation
UK hedge fund managers are usually authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as alternative investment fund managers.
Senior roles fall under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, so the hiring process includes fitness and propriety checks.
The FCA says it must decide on a senior management function application within 3 months of receiving it (FCA), so build that into the start date.
In its consultation on the UK AIFM regime, the FCA says UK asset managers oversee almost £2 trillion in alternative assets (CP26/28).
Managers with US investors may also file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Professional bodies
Many risk and investor relations professionals hold the CFA charter, and many finance leads hold an accountancy qualification.
Data and fairness
Candidate data is handled under UK GDPR, with guidance from the ICO.
05/ questions
Questions, answered
It finds and assesses candidates for hedge fund managers.
Rainmakrr focuses on the leadership and infrastructure roles: COO, CFO, risk, compliance, investor relations and operations.
Our focus is the senior roles that run the fund.
Talk to us about an investment hire and we will say plainly whether we are the right firm for it.
Often, yes.
At an FCA-authorised firm, several senior roles are senior management functions under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
Yes.
A launch usually starts with a COO, and we can also cover finance through Fractional Quest if a full-time CFO is not yet needed.
Book a 15-minute call on this page, or email hello@fractional.quest.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to talk through the hire
Tell us the seat, the fund or company, and the timing. We set out how we would run the search.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the search
- 03A written search plan after the call
- 04Permanent, interim and fractional briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
06/ sources
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page.