By Maiya Keidan
LONDON (Reuters) - A former trader from hedge fund BlueCrest has received backing from U.S.-based Lighthouse Investment Partners to start Space Capital, an equities hedge fund, two sources close to the matter said.
A number of traders who worked at British billionaire Michael Platt's BlueCrest fund have launched new ventures since BlueCrest closed on Dec. 1, 2015, including portfolio manager Ardy Hashemi who received $200 million from Lighthouse to launch a hedge fund.
Lighthouse, which manages approximately $8.5 billion in assets, is giving its backing to ex-BlueCrest equities portfolio manager Silvia Pace less than two months after Hashemi, the sources said.
It is not known how much Lighthouse is giving Pace for her new hedge fund, which will be initially closed to external investors, one of the sources said.
A spokesman at Lighthouse declined to comment on Space.
A spokeswoman at BlueCrest did not respond to requests for comment.
Space will adopt a "long/short" equities strategy, which includes a tactic hedge funds employ where they borrow a stock, betting that the price will fall.
Pace, 37, spent over three years at BlueCrest as a portfolio manager before leaving in August to start Space, the sources said. She is joined by Aron Ceccarelli, who specialized in chemical and airline stocks at BlueCrest during his six-month tenure at the now-shuttered firm.
Pace previously traded equities at Nomura International, hedge fund Theorema Advisors and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN), filings from Britain's financial regulator showed.
The sectors she focused on were consumer staples, discretionary and chemicals.