Roscommon gas desk closure prompts hiring at funds, firms

Roscommon Analytics closed its US natural gas trading desk after the unit posted losses, leading to at least 11 departures during 2026. Departures included traders, risk officers and operations staff who have taken roles across hedge funds, banks, commodity merchants and energy companies.

Notable appointments include former US chief risk officer James Degelia joining Balyasny Asset Management; Samantha Philipp West moving to Citi as a vice president specialising in power trading; and Paul Matasso being named head of natural gas trading at Marathon Petroleum. Other former employees have taken positions at Trafigura, Saracen Energy, Castleton Commodities International and Bank of America.

Michael Ciano, who joined Roscommon in 2025 from Hartree Partners to help build its natural gas business, left earlier this year for Squarepoint Capital, which expanded its energy trading capabilities with his hire.

Regulatory filings list Roscommon with 95 employees, including 45 investment professionals, and offices in Houston and New York. Public professional profiles show the firm’s headcount has declined over the past year.

Recruiters and trading managers reported the departures provided a pool of experienced US power and gas specialists. Hires have filled senior trading and risk roles as well as mid-level positions across sales, risk and operations linked to commodities trading.

Kevin Kelly, Roscommon’s chief executive, earlier stated the firm remained well capitalised and that the closure of the gas trading operation was being handled in an orderly manner.

Roscommon continues to operate other strategies and maintains a concentrated investment staff spread between its two US offices. The wind-down ends the firm’s recent effort to build an energy trading franchise that began with hires in 2024 and 2025.