Jain Global equities head leaves to launch long/short fund

Townie Wells, Jain Global's head of fundamental equities, left the multistrategy firm to launch a long/short equity fund and is in talks with Millennium Management over a potential multibillion-dollar allocation, Bloomberg reported.

Wells, a former Citadel trader based in New York, departed Jain Global last week and plans to raise outside capital alongside any Millennium commitment. He ranked among Jain Global's most successful portfolio managers in 2025, when the firm generated roughly $750 million in trading profits, the report said.

If Millennium commits, the fund would launch with a single anchor investor. About half of hedge funds launched in 2025 took their initial backing through separately managed accounts, up from 16% a decade earlier, and those accounts supplied an average of 84% of initial assets, according to Goldman Sachs research cited in the report. External investors would need to weigh whether that concentration limits capacity or redemption flexibility.

Founder Bobby Jain stepped in to help oversee Jain Global's equities strategy during the second quarter of 2026, and the firm returned all external investor capital before moving to managing money exclusively for Millennium. Walleye Capital cut its equity long/short team after a 5.9% loss, as Alternatives previously reported.