Macro & rates recruitment
We place the desk, not just the CV.
Blackfriars Search is a specialist search firm for global macro. We recruit discretionary and systematic portfolio managers, traders, economists and the infrastructure around them — for funds that can't afford to hire the wrong seat.
About the firm
Blackfriars Search was founded on a simple view: macro hiring is too specialised to leave to generalist recruiters, and too important to leave to a job board.
We take our name from the ward on the north bank of the Thames — a small patch of the City that has quietly sat behind finance, print and law for the better part of a millennium. It's a fitting home for a firm built on the same instincts: know the trade, keep confidences, and do the work properly the first time.
Every consultant on the team has either traded, allocated to, or recruited exclusively within macro. We don't run parallel practices in equities or credit — the seat is narrow by design, and the network is deep because of it.
"A good search firm should be able to tell you why a trader left their last three seats before you ask."
— Edward Fairfax, Managing PartnerEight desks. One specialism.
Each practice area is run by a dedicated consultant who has either worked the desk or recruited nothing else for a decade.
Discretionary Global Macro
Portfolio managers and senior risk-takers across rates, FX and cross-asset macro mandates, from launch teams to established platforms.
Rates & Government Bond Trading
Traders and strategists across G10 and EM rates desks, from flow seats to relative value and curve positioning.
G10 & EM FX Trading
Spot, forwards and options risk-takers across developed and emerging market currency desks.
Systematic & Quantitative Macro
Researchers, quants and PMs building signal-driven and rules-based macro strategies.
Macro Economists & Strategists
Desk economists and cross-asset strategists whose research view moves the book.
Emerging Markets Macro
Local and hard-currency rates, FX and sovereign credit specialists across EM desks.
Middle Office, Risk & COO
The infrastructure that lets a macro book run — risk management, trade support and business management.
Research & Market Intelligence
Compensation benchmarking, market mapping and org design for funds launching or scaling a desk.
How a search runs
Five stages, no wasted motion.
Brief
We take the mandate directly from the CIO or PM — not a spec passed down through HR.
Map
We build a live map of the seat: who's genuinely open to move, and why.
Shortlist
A small number of fully referenced, comp-checked candidates — never a long list.
Interview
We coordinate interviews, manage feedback and keep both sides aligned as the process develops.
Close
We manage references, offer negotiation and the path to signing on both sides of the table.
The partnership
Eight consultants, eight specialisms, one desk of coverage across global macro.
Edward Fairfax
Founded the firm after eleven years recruiting senior PMs across London and New York. Runs the firm's most senior mandates personally.
Charlotte Wren
Former European rates trader turned headhunter. Keeps the firm's deepest network across G10 and EM rates desks.
Marcus Adeyemi
Twelve years placing FX risk-takers across three continents, from spot desks to options books at multi-manager platforms.
Sophie Lindqvist
Previously a researcher at a systematic macro fund. Bridges the language gap between quant teams and investment committees.
James Oduya
Built his network covering sell-side economics teams before moving into search. Focused on the economist-to-PM pathway.
Priya Nandakumar
Operates across London, Dubai, Singapore and India, covering local rates, FX and sovereign credit specialists.
Thomas Voss
Recruits the infrastructure hires that let a macro book scale — risk, trade support and business management.
Isla Mackenzie
Runs the firm's compensation benchmarking and market-mapping work for funds building out a desk from scratch.
Who we work with
A small number of macro funds, worked closely.
We limit the number of live client relationships at any one time so that every mandate gets partner-level attention. That spans first-time launches spinning out of the Street to established multi-strategy platforms adding to an existing book.
Insights
Occasional notes on hiring and moving within macro.
Where rates traders are actually moving in 2026
A look at desk-to-desk movement across G10 rates this year, and what's driving it.
The economist-to-PM pathway: is it widening?
Why more funds are willing to give research-side economists a book of their own.
What EM macro desks are paying for local rates expertise
Notes from our latest market-mapping work across EM local rates seats.
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