(Bloomberg) -- ExodusPoint Capital Management hired three portfolio managers in Dubai as the multistrategy hedge fund builds out its operations in the Middle Eastern business hub.

Valery Ivanov has joined from Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management as an equity long/short manager focused mainly on the consumer sector, according to a person familiar with the matter. Omar Soomro, who previously worked with Garda Capital Partners and Moore Capital Management, will come on board as a portfolio manager trading emerging markets, the person said. 

Meanwhile, Rob Kitchen started with the fund earlier this month to trade macro strategy, according to the person, who declined to be identified as the information is private. Kitchen was most recently at Amia Capital and has previously worked at BlueCrest.

A spokesman for New York-based ExodusPoint, which manages about $12 billion, declined to comment.

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, has emerged as a magnet for hedge funds over the past few years. Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management and Michael Platt’s BlueCrest have expanded their operations in the city, drawn by a slew of incentives, a favorable timezone and a low tax regime. 

Neighboring Abu Dhabi, which has the added attraction of being one of few cities globally to manage more than $1 trillion in sovereign wealth, has also managed to draw in big names. Brevan Howard Asset Management now manages more money from that emirate than anywhere else, Bloomberg News has reported.

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ExodusPoint — one of the world’s largest multistrategy hedge funds — set up in Dubai in 2022. Last year, it struck a deal with former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Managing Director Nader Awada to manage money from Dubai, in a push to expand trading strategies. 

ExodusPoint, founded in 2017 by Michael Gelband and Hyung Lee, invests across fixed income and equities, according to its website. The hedge fund gained 7.3% in 2023.

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