Ning Jin, the former CIO of Viking Global Investors, is preparing to debut his long-awaited hedge fund spin-out, Avantyr Capital, with a team of nearly 20 professionals and more than $1bn in anticipated launch capital, according to a report by Business Insider.

The reports cites regulatory filings as showing that Avantyr, headquartered at 450 Park Avenue in New York, has 19 staff – including 10 investment professionals – ahead of its expected Q4 trading start. The firm will focus on equities across technology, media, telecoms, consumer, financials, and industrials, combining fundamental research with alternative datasets and AI-driven analysis.

Jin, who spent 17 years at Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global before departing in 2024, has recruited a high-profile roster of sector specialists from Coatue, KKR, Blackstone, and other leading firms. Key hires include: Terrence Cheng (ex-Tybourne, L2 Capital) to lead industrials research Adam Marcus (ex-Tourbillon, Maven) to head financials coverage; Lea Zhang (ex-Coatue) covering tech and consumer; Christopher Parks (ex-Matrix Capital) as analyst; Andrew Seketa (ex-Blackstone) as TMT analyst; and Christopher Fletcher (ex-KKR) as analyst.

They join early hires Alex Mendez (ex-Viking), Sunjay Mishra (ex-Tourbillon), head trader Niraj Bhatt, investor relations lead Lauren Lyons, COO Kelly Skura, and general counsel Vanessa Di Simone.

Avantyr is positioning itself as a fundamental, research-driven platform built for scale, but with the flexibility to exploit emerging data tools. The fund is expected to launch with more than $1bn in AUM, backed by institutional investors drawn from Jin’s track record and network.

Jin follows in the footsteps of other Viking alumni — including D1 Capital’s Dan Sundheim, Alua’s Tom Purcell, and Anomaly’s Ben Jacobs — who have successfully spun out to establish their own hedge fund platforms.