Rokos Capital to pay external managers for trade ideas

Rokos Capital Management is weighing an alpha-capture programme that would pay external equity managers for stock trading ideas. The plans are at an early stage and may be altered or abandoned as discussions continue. A Rokos spokesperson declined to comment on the proposals.

Under the proposal, external managers would provide trade ideas or trading signals and receive payment for those contributions. Rokos would be able to feed the ideas into its proprietary models and quantitative strategies.

Buy-side alpha-capture platforms let asset managers buy recommendations or trading signals from other investment managers and add them to their own trading systems. Firms use the signals to supplement internal research and broaden the set of inputs that inform trades.

Other large hedge funds are developing similar platforms. Citadel and Point72 are preparing systems to gather trading intelligence from external managers to support quantitative strategies. Several macro-focused funds have increased their equities activity in recent periods alongside work in interest rates and currencies.

Brevan Howard stepped up equities trading last year to help offset weaker returns in its flagship fund, and equities were the strongest-performing segment for that fund in the opening quarter of 2026. Founder Alan Howard is preparing to allocate capital to specialist equity hedge fund managers.

Rokos has been expanding its equities capabilities. Earlier in 2026 the firm hired John O’Leary, formerly a portfolio manager at Xantium Group, to lead a new systematic equities team based in Boston. Rokos posted a 3.7% gain in May, lifting returns for the first five months of 2026 to 14.2%.

Details of the alpha-capture discussions remain fluid and the firm may change or drop the plan as talks progress.