Florida is luring its biggest name yet in hedge funds: Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp.
The $41 billion firm plans to move its headquarters to West Palm Beach from Midtown Manhattan, according to people familiar with the matter, joining a growing list of funds that have relocated to the Sunshine State.
With no individual income taxes, estate taxes or capital gains taxes, Florida has become a hot destination for hedge funds in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated that shift away from New York, the initial epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
Singer’s co-chief investment officer and expected successor, Jon Pollock, owns a home near West Palm Beach and has been living there during the pandemic, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The now-permanent move by Pollock, as well as several other senior employees, played a big role in the decision to shift the headquarters, said one of the people.
Elliott will keep its New York presence and also open an office in Greenwich, Connecticut. Billionaire Singer, 76, will stay in the Northeast. A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.
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It’s unclear how many of the firm’s hundreds of employees will choose to move south, but Elliott will continue to employ hundreds of people in its Manhattan offices, said the person.
Elliott’s relocation will increase industry assets in Florida by more than half, according to data collected by research firm Preqin.
While the number of hedge funds based in Florida has climbed rapidly in the past five years, most of them are small. New York still dwarfs all other locales, with about $1.3 trillion in hedge fund assets, according to Preqin.
Still, Elliott’s move, coupled with Carl Icahn’s recent relocation of his asset management firm to Florida, may lead to other big managers heading south.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel plans to open an office in Miami next year, according to a person with knowledge of his plans. Another Chicago-based firm, the $8 billion Balyasny Asset Management, will have its Miami facility ready before the end of the year, with capacity for about 30 staff.