Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Squarepoint Capital
The systematic multi-strategy manager that traces its roots to nQuant, a proprietary trading unit founded inside Lehman Brothers in 2000. nQuant passed to Barclays with Lehman's North American business in 2008 and was spun out of Barclays as an independent firm on 15–16 Dec 2014 (Wikipedia; Preqin). It started with about 60 people (reported Aug 2014). By 2026 it had about 2,350 staff in 17 locations (Wikipedia), headquarters in New York and London, more than US$20bn of capital, most of it from partners and employees (Hedgeweek, Mar 2026, reported), and US$227.0bn of regulatory assets under management. That figure counts gross positions, leverage included (Form ADV, Aug 2026). Its story is the bank-desk spin-out: a prop desk that a bank no longer wanted became an independent quant fund and kept growing. After 2022 it also used its own capital for proprietary trading (STG), physical metals and power trading, backing outside managers and, from 2025–26, US options market making. Correction to this KB's earlier seed: the blueprint, section 22 and the Point72 profile describe Squarepoint as a Deutsche Bank equity-quant spin-out seeded by Point72. The sources checked in C14 say Barclays (ex-Lehman). No source was found for a Point72 seed, and Form ADV shows no outside owner of 25% or more. Treat the Point72 seed as unconfirmed. The firm discloses little, so this profile has six moves (the rule-6 range for sparse records).
At a glance
- Founded
- nQuant founded inside Lehman Brothers in 2000 by Olivier Durantel and Grégoire Schneider; Antoine Fillet joined in 2003 and Maxime Fortin in 2004 — all École polytechnique alumni, all listed as founders (Wikipedia)
- Spin-out
- From Barclays, which acquired nQuant with Lehman's North American operations in 2008; Barclays decided to cut non-core businesses (May 2014); spin-off 15 Dec 2014 (Wikipedia body) / 16 Dec 2014 (infobox; Preqin); FCA authorisation to manage third-party money 2 Jan 2015 (Wikipedia)
- Headquarters
- New York (250 West 55th Street) and London (Citypoint, One Ropemaker Street) (Wikipedia; Form ADV); other offices include Bangalore, Boston, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Houston, Jersey, Madrid, Montreal, Paris, Singapore and Zug (Wikipedia)
- Ownership / structure
- Partner-owned (Preqin). Form ADV shows Squarepoint Holdings Limited (a non-US company) as the ultimate 75%+ owner of the US adviser Squarepoint Ops LLC through Squarepoint Private Limited, Squarepoint UK Holdco 2 Limited and Squarepoint Group Intermediate LP; no other 25% owner is reported (Form ADV, Schedule B, Aug 2026)
- Regulated entities
- Squarepoint Ops LLC (SEC-registered adviser, CRD 172116; AIFM for most funds); Squarepoint Capital LLP (UK, Companies House OC393269, incorporated 21 May 2014; FCA-authorised; full-scope AIFM from Q3 2025); Squarepoint (DIFC) Limited; Squarepoint Operations Private Limited (India) (MIFIDPRU 8 disclosure, FY2025); STG Securities, LLC (US broker-dealer, ex-Hull Partners, acquired 30 Sep 2025 — Wikipedia)
- Scale (dated, reported)
- ~60 staff at spin-out (Aug 2014 reports); headcount doubled within two years; >US$20bn of capital (Hedgeweek, 5 Mar 2026); US$226,980,317,646 regulatory AUM, 28 accounts, all discretionary (Form ADV, amendment of 7 Aug 2026); ~2,350 employees, 17 locations (Wikipedia, 2026)
- Funds
- Master funds in Form ADV (gross asset values, leverage-inclusive): Core Master Fund ~US$77.3bn, Master Fund ~US$57.5bn, Focus Master Fund ~US$39.9bn, Atlas Master Fund ~US$25.6bn, AC Master Fund ~US$1.7bn, SQD1 ~US$2.6bn, plus SQC Metals (~US$0.85bn), SQC Financial Energy (~US$0.14bn) and Squarepoint Energy Trading (~US$0.05bn) (Form ADV, Aug 2026)
- Regulators
- SEC (adviser); FCA (UK LLP); DFSA (DIFC); SEBI/Indian regulators for the India entity (verify); FINRA (STG Securities)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Spin-out from Barclays (2014); the Sesum arbitration over a strategy taken to Millennium (2018–20); backing outside managers (Arini 2021 → Invictus 2026); STG proprietary trading in metals and power (2022–); restructuring the UK LLP and AIFM authorisation (2023–25); options market making via AVT and STG Securities (2024–26)
6 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2014
Spin Out from Barclays
Hiring, spin-out or partner departure / founding as an independent firm
2018
Sesum Arbitration and Strategy Protection
Regulatory, enforcement or legal action (as claimant); talent and intellectual-property risk
2021
Backing Outside Managers
Capital raise, fee change or seeding — Squarepoint as the **seeder**
2022
STG Proprietary Trading Metals and Power
New strategy, product or market / strategy pivot (back to proprietary trading)
2023
UK LLP Restructuring and AIFM Authorisation
Restructuring / regulatory change
2025
Options Market Making via AVT and STG Securities
Acquisition and new business line (market-structure bet)