PIMCO hires former Goldman and Balyasny commodities exec

Damien Courvalin joined PIMCO in September as a commodities portfolio manager. He confirmed the appointment on LinkedIn.

Courvalin spent three years at Balyasny Asset Management, where he led the Commodities Intelligence Group. He left Balyasny in March. His departure came alongside exits by Max Iakovlev, an energy trader and former Goldman Sachs managing director, and colleague Toby Shephard. Balyasny recorded a 3.5% loss for the week ending March 6; there is no indication the departures were related to that performance.

Before joining Balyasny, Courvalin worked at Goldman Sachs for 16 years and rose to managing director. His roles at the bank covered commodity markets and trading operations.

PIMCO, a US-based fixed income and asset manager, added Courvalin to its commodities team. The firm has not disclosed his specific portfolio duties or reporting lines.

At Balyasny, Dan Deighton, another former Goldman Sachs managing director, continues to lead the firm’s commodities business.

Courvalin’s career includes trading roles at Goldman Sachs and commodity analysis work at a multi-strategy hedge fund.