(Oct 7): Segantii Capital Management, the hedge fund firm at the centre of an insider trading case, has left its 12,000 sq ft office in Hong Kong, said people familiar with the matter.

The firm founded by Simon Sadler vacated the 21st and 22nd floors of 100 Queen’s Road Central, said the people, who requested not to be identified discussing private information. It had more than a year left on its lease, one of them added. 

Segantii now lists a suite in a nearby serviced office as its Hong Kong address. A recent visit to the Central premises showed a “Bitmain Antalpha” sign at the entrance to one of its floors, and the other level was being renovated. Bitmain is a digital currency mining servers maker. Antalpha, a affiliate based in Singapore, is a lending desk for institutional bitcoin mining operations, according to its website. 

Segantii chief executive officer Kurt Ersoy declined to comment. A representative of 100 Queen’s Road Central and Bitmain didn’t respond to separate email queries.

Segantii has been returning capital to investors, people familiar said in May. With Hong Kong’s landlords already struggling to fill space, hedge funds that have shut down or retrenched sometimes spend months negotiating office surrenders. 

Companies have been tightening their budgets amid higher borrowing costs, weak business confidence and geopolitical concerns. Combine that with an increase in supply, a record 13.8 million sq ft of grade-A office space sat idle in Hong Kong in the second quarter, pushing vacancy rates to 16.6%, according to a Colliers report. 

About 27% of occupants surveyed by Colliers indicated they planned to downsize their offices in the coming year. 

Segantii’s office at 100 Queen’s Road Central was significantly bigger than the space that most local hedge funds were able to afford, even in the heydays of the market.

Founded in Hong Kong in 2007 with just US$26 million, Segantii by the end of March had 151 employees globally, including in Hong Kong, London, New York and Dubai, according to its website. At the peak in 2021, it oversaw US$6.2 billion (RM26.5 billion) of assets, ranking it as one of the largest Asia-based hedge funds both by headcount and assets under management.

Hong Kong’s securities watchdog in early May criminally charged Segantii, Sadler and Daniel La Rocca, a former trader, for alleged insider dealing. 

Though the court hearing is still unfolding, the allegations have led some banks and investors to reassess their dealings with Segantii, leading to an abrupt end to its 16-year run as one of the most consistent performers in Asia’s hedge fund industry.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee