Bank of America traders launch forex hedge fund

Three senior forex traders from Bank of America (BoA) in New York last week launched Scalene Partners, a new intra-day forex hedge fund.

David Greenwald, BofA’s head of forex trading, Ken Kristensen, a senior euro trader, and Todd Andrews, a dollar/Swiss trader, now join the growing ranks of bankers turning to buy-side forex as a range of factors makes the move more profitable than ever.

The competitive environment - in which the equity markets continue to struggle and the low interest rate environment prevails - means foreign exchange has become a very attractive area in which to invest, Greenwald told RiskNews' sister publication FX Week.

Other senior traders who have joined hedge funds in the past few months include Credit Agricole’s chief dealer in London, Mark Clarke, who joined C-View in London, and the bank’s head of prime brokerage, Keith Gill, who joined GLC.

This trend is likely to continue, Greenwald added. "There are some very successful proprietary traders out there. In my mind, if they are successful, they should be leaving."

At BoA, Greenwald was responsible for consolidating the bank’s Los Angeles and San Francisco trading operations into New York. He has worked at the bank since 1995, having joined BoA in Los Angeles from Union Bank of Switzerland -now UBS Warburg.

Greenwald has also worked at Midland Bank - now part of HSBC - and JP Morgan in New York during his career as a yen trader. At Scalene, Greenwald is responsible for building the firm’s infrastructure and enhancing its trading platform.

Kristensen has more than 14 years of currency and related risk management experience. His role at Scalene is to direct Scalene’s intra-day trading methodology.

Andrews has traded forex for five years. He is responsible for Scalene’s discretionary trading, idea generation and trade implementation.