ExodusPoint allocates $1bn+ to Ben Atlas’s new macro pod

ExodusPoint Capital Management has committed an initial allocation of more than $1 billion to back Ben Atlas as he starts a new macro trading pod called Atlas Capital at the firm later this month.

Atlas, who is based in New York, left BlueCrest Capital Management last year after serving as a senior portfolio manager. He previously held trading roles at DRW Holdings and Barclays.

The funding will be deployed within ExodusPoint’s multi-strategy platform. The firm organizes investment operations around separate trading teams or pods that receive capital allocations and operate with a degree of autonomy while sharing risk and operational infrastructure.

The Atlas Capital pod is scheduled to begin trading later this month. The precise size of the team and further details of the capital arrangement have not been disclosed beyond the initial allocation figure.

Atlas is expected to run a macro-focused trading team that will take positions across global markets. Macro strategies typically target moves in interest rates, currencies, commodities and equities.

The allocation is part of ExodusPoint’s effort to expand its roster of senior trading teams and to bring experienced portfolio managers into the firm’s internal pod structure, according to people familiar with the plans.

ExodusPoint declined to comment, and Atlas did not respond to requests for comment.