Some hedge funds are expanding in Miami — but its share of prized portfolio managers has fallen

• Investing head count based in Miami for the industry's biggest firms decreased from last year.
• Regulatory filings show Citadel, Millennium, Point72, Balyasny, and more with reduced Miami headcounts.
• The Magic City has been pitched as a cheaper, warmer alternative to New York.

One takeaway from Miami's annual hedge fund week earlier this year was the lack of attendees with plans or desires to relocate to Florida, which has for years been talked about as a cheaper, warmer alternative to high-tax cities like New York and San Francisco.

The narrative took off during the onset of the pandemic, when finance pros forced to work remotely found they could do their jobs poolside, and has turned political as billionaire founders and investors such as Sergey Brin and Peter Thiel grow frustrated with taxes in California and New York.

But while well-off founders and near-retirement executives might be buying property in exclusive Miami neighborhoods or Palm Beach gated communities, the average employee in the asset management industry has not yet been convinced that the grass would be greener in Brickell instead of Midtown Manhattan.

Now, new data from regulatory filings suggest that Miami's momentum as a hub for hedge fund talent may be slowing.

In 2025, eight of the industry's biggest employers — multistrategy funds including Millennium, Citadel, Point72, Balyasny, Schonfeld, ExodusPoint, Verition, and Walleye — had a combined 218 investment professionals in Miami, according to filings. A year later, the eight firms had 20 fewer investors in the Magic City, despite the firms' investing-focused head count increasing by more than 11%.

Regulatory filings break out only where investment staff is located, not every employee, so Miami offices may still be growing overall with non-investing personnel.

Ken Griffin's $69 billion Citadel, which moved its headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, shed 15 investment professionals from its Miami offices, despite growing its overall investing team by 77 people over the year. Izzy Englander's $87 billion Millennium, which has grown its investing cohort by nearly 25% in the last two years, went from 53 investors and two offices in the Magic City in 2024 to 48 and a single Brickell location in 2026.

In a statement to Business Insider, a Citadel spokesperson called Miami a "world-class city" that's the center of gravity for our senior leadership and home to more than 400 colleagues, between the fund and its sister firm, marketmaker Citadel Securities, in the city. The hedge fund has several executives based there, including Joanna Welsh, the firm's chief risk officer.

The statement also noted that the manager is excited about the progress of the new 58-story tower being built for its new headquarters that will change the city's skyline.

New York-based Millennium declined to comment.

Of the eight multistrategy firms reviewed, only ExodusPoint, which added two investors in two new Miami offices, and Walleye, which added five investment staffers to its Miami office, grew their investment headcounts, according to the filings.

The filings show that Verition kept its Miami investment staff head count stable at 10, though the firm closed its office in the exclusive Coconut Grove neighborhood and now has only two properties in the city. A person close to the Connecticut-based firm said the manager has added three investment pros in Miami since the tally for the regulatory filing was taken.

$19 billion Schonfeld, whose CEO, Ryan Tolkin, purchased a $14 million Miami Beach mansion in 2021, has more than doubled its Dubai investing staff in the last two years while its Miami office has remained flat at 16, filings show. A person close to the New York-based fund said its overall Miami presence has grown year over year, with 69 people now working at the firm's Wynwood office.

Brevan Howard is also planning to open an office in the city soon with investment staff, a person close to the European manager told Business Insider.

Overall, a majority of the main multistrategy firms continue to grow head count despite the ongoing talent war that has greatly increased employee compensation costs for hedge funds. The eight firms employ a total of 18,678 people, of which 8,537 — roughly 46% — are people in "investment advisory functions."

The growth, from the investing personnel side, mostly came in the major financial centers these firms already operate in: New York, London, Hong Kong, and, increasingly, Dubai, though how well the Emirati city retains expats in the wake of the US and Israel strikes on Iran will be of interest for decision-makers in Europe and Asia.

There are also new outposts in smaller cities around the world. Filings show that Citadel added people in new locations such as New Zealand and Germany, which came under the firm's umbrella following the purchase of power trader FlexPower last year. The firm's Chicago presence has greatly diminished since it moved its headquarters, with investment staff in the Windy City down more than 42% year-over-year and working out of a new office.

Point72 opened an office and added two investors in Atlanta, Millennium doubled its team in Austin, and Balyasny now has outposts in three Danish cities: Aalborg, Aarhus, and Copenhagen.