Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital hires Blackstone executive for asset management

Mike Novogratz, founder of Galaxy Digital, speaks during a Reuters investment summit in New York, U.S., November 5, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson//File Photo

BOSTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd (GLXY.TO), a crypto-focused financial services company, said on Thursday it has hired an executive from asset management giant Blackstone Group (BX.N) to help it grow its business and expand product offerings.

William Burt, a former chief executive of Blackstone, joined Galaxy Digital as chief operating officer of Galaxy Digital Asset Management, which oversees some $2.9 billion in assets, this week, the company said.

At Blackstone, Burt was COO of the group’s $55 billion Portfolio Solutions group, which invests with many of the world’s largest hedge fund managers for clients including hedge funds. pension and sovereign wealth funds.

During the decade that Burt worked for Blackstone’s BAAM hedge fund unit, he played a key role in helping to allocate investments and liaise with clients. Prior to Blackstone, he worked at McKinsey & Company.

At Galaxy Digital Asset Management, Burt will oversee day-to-day operations in the asset management space and report to Steve Kurz, Global Head of Asset Management.

“Bill’s decades of experience scaling investment management businesses will be invaluable as we continue to rapidly expand our capabilities,” Kurz said.

Galaxy Digital was founded by former hedge fund manager turned cryptocurrency pioneer Michael Novogratz in 2006 as an investment management company that later expanded into investment banking and trading to serve institutional and wealthy clients.

The New York-based company listed shares in Toronto in 2020 and is expected to list in the United States in the first quarter of 2022.

Galaxy Digital has taken on a number of traditional financial firms, including appointing former Goldman Sachs executive Michael Daffey as chairman last year.

Blackstone has seen a large group of executives leave its hedge fund unit over the past year, most recently including John McCormick, the former co-head of BAAM, and Min Htoo, the former co-chief investment officer of BAAM.

Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss Editing by Tomasz Janowski

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