Traders Are Ditching Giant Hedge Funds to Set Their Own Terms

Michael Alfaro was about to become a father and launch his own hedge fund when he got the kind of call that’s familiar to high-performing traders: A recruiter at a large multistrategy fund wanted him to give up his dream of independence and join them.

Soon, the recruiter took a different approach, finding Alfaro a night nurse so the expectant parent could focus on making his decision.

Michael Alfaro

Photographer: Scott Rossi/Bloomberg

Alfaro, now 37, ended up rejecting the overtures from that fund and another one. But he kept the nurse.

Such resistance is becoming more common. A growing number of traders are leaving or ...