Confidential Search
Confidential Executive Search for Senior Quant Talent
The searches that matter most are the ones the market never hears about. Bayes Group runs senior quantitative finance mandates confidentially as the default — anonymized-first profiles, no CV circulation, names released only under agreed terms.
A confidential executive search fills a senior seat, or moves a senior candidate, without the market learning that either is in motion. No postings, no CV circulation, no database blasts — a small number of direct conversations, with identifying detail held back until both sides have agreed terms.
Bayes Group is a New York-headquartered executive search firm covering senior quantitative finance, with Hong Kong and London coverage. Founded by Richard H., who led an Asia-Pacific quantitative finance search practice from Hong Kong for seven years, the firm works the senior end of the market exclusively: portfolio managers running books, the quant researchers behind them, and the trading leadership above them. At that level, confidentiality is not a service tier. It is how the work has to be done.
Why It Has to Run This Way
A small market that talks
The credible pool for any given senior quant seat is counted in dozens, and most of those people know each other. A name that reaches the wrong desk mid-move can cost a portfolio manager their current book, their deferred compensation, and their leverage in the negotiation they actually wanted to have. For the hiring side the exposure is symmetrical: a leaked build-out invites competitors onto the same shortlist, and a leaked departure plan can move capital before a replacement is signed.
Garden leave and non-compete windows at the platform tier now commonly run one to two years, which makes the timing of any disclosure a position in itself — our note on the sit-out window covers why. A search process that cannot hold a name tight through that window is a process that costs its candidates money.
Everyone in this market eventually learns how a search firm behaved on its last mandate. Our practice is designed to survive that scrutiny, and the network the firm runs on exists because it has.
How It Runs
Anonymized first. Named under terms. Never circulated.
Every candidate we represent moves through the process anonymized first. A client sees the track record, the strategy shape, the book economics, and the mandate fit before any name attaches to the profile. Names are released under agreed terms, and only then. The same discipline runs in reverse: a fund's mandate stays anonymized in every approach we make, so a candidate hears the seat before they hear the firm.
We do not post roles. We do not circulate CVs. We do not shop a candidacy to generate market colour, and we do not disclose client names — to anyone, including other clients. The firm deliberately runs no LinkedIn presence; coverage comes from a direct network built over years of placing senior portfolio managers and quant researchers, and from the market intelligence work published in our Insights notes.
Funds engaging us on a build-out or a sensitive replacement should start with how we work with firms. Senior candidates weighing a move, on any timeline, should read how we work with talent — the short version is that a first conversation commits you to nothing and is disclosed to no one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a confidential executive search?
A confidential executive search fills a senior seat, or moves a senior candidate, without the market learning that either is in motion. In practice that means no job postings, no CV circulation, no database blasts: a small number of direct, deliberate conversations, with identifying detail held back until both sides have agreed terms. Bayes Group runs senior quantitative finance searches this way as the default, not as a premium option.
Why do senior quant searches need to run confidentially?
The senior end of quantitative finance is a small market that talks. A portfolio manager whose name reaches the market mid-move risks their current seat, their deferred compensation, and their negotiating position. A fund whose build-out leaks invites competitors to bid up the same shortlist. At this level, discretion is a commercial requirement on both sides of the search.
How does Bayes Group keep a search confidential?
Candidates move through the process anonymized first: a client sees the track record, the strategy shape, and the mandate fit before any name attaches to the profile. Names are released under agreed terms, and only then. We do not circulate CVs, we do not shop a candidacy to generate market colour, and we do not disclose client names. The firm deliberately runs no LinkedIn presence; the network is direct.
Can a fund open a senior seat without the market finding out?
Yes. The mandate stays anonymized in every approach we make: candidates hear the strategy, the structure, and the economics of the seat before they hear the firm. Most senior seats we work are never advertised anywhere, and several exist precisely because the incumbent has not yet been told. That class of search cannot run through public channels at all.
How does a senior candidate start a confidential conversation?
Write to us directly. A first conversation with Bayes Group commits you to nothing and is disclosed to no one — no fund hears your name, or that a conversation happened, unless you decide it should. Senior people often talk to us quarters before they intend to move, because the earlier the conversation starts, the better the eventual move tends to be.
Start a confidential conversation
Whether you are a fund with a seat the market must not hear about, or a senior professional whose next move needs to stay quiet until it is signed, the conversation starts in confidence and stays there.
Start a Conversation →