JPMorgan Backs Hal Lehr with $100M to Start Own Hedge Fund
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has backed Hal Lehr, a former Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and Soros Fund Management LLC trader, with $100 million to start a New York hedge-fund firm, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
The
firm, to be named Aithon Capital, is scheduled to start in January with
JPMorgan investing about half its initial $100 million of capital, the
person said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
The global macro fund may have a focus on commodity trading and JPMorgan
can boost its investment to as much as $500 million, the person said.
Aithon is in talks for office space at 501 Madison Avenue, the person
said.
Lehr
had planned to begin Aithon after stepping down as head of Deutsche
Bank’s global cross-commodity trading unit in late 2012, the person
said. The start was postponed after he joined Carlyle Group as an
adviser. Deutsche Bank will act as one of Aithon’s prime brokers,
according to the person.
JPMorgan
Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Paul Zummo declined to
comment when contacted by phone, while Lehr was unavailable for comment.
Source: Bloomberg
