The recently-departed heads of equities and equity research at GMO will team with the former head of quantitative research at MIR Investment Management, also an old GMO colleague, in a new venture with institutional backing.

GMO’s head of equities, Max Cappetta, and head of equity research, Anthony Corr, are set to reunite with Brett McElwee. Until early this year, McElwee had spent three years running the quant half of Michael Triguboff’s MIR business, following a two-year stint as a senior capital markets analyst with Russell Investment Group in London, and five years as a quant analyst with GMO in London and Sydney. Cappetta and Corr each spent a decade at GMO before walking out in late August. Corr said he was prevented by “confidentiality” from speaking when contacted last week. It is understood that Corr and Cappetta, who went on an overseas holiday in late August saying he was due to return mid-October, are still officially on ‘gardening leave’ with GMO. Industry sources indicate the trio will have institutional backing for a venture – the systemic requirements of setting up and maintaining a quant process tend to demand significant resources.