Brevan Howard, the global macro hedge fund major co-founded by Alan Howard, has upped the headcount in its Abu Dhabi office to 90, just 15 months after opening for business in the emirate, with 50 staff joining in the last seven months alone, according to a report by eFinancial Careers.

The firm's Abu Dhabi team, headed by MENA CEO Oualid Lashini, includes portfolio managers, marketing professionals, salespeople, operations professionals and technologists, who collectively manage $10bn of the firm's total $35bn of assets.

The increase is part of a wider hiring spree at Brevan Howard, which has seen its global headcount rise to around 1,100 by the end of last month from just 150 in 2019.

As well as hiring, the firm has also been firing recently, with 100 people cut last month – including 20 portfolio managers – while around 24 traders also left in March.