Wall Street institutions establish "wellness planners": Are they the "insiders" of the bosses or the "harbor" for employees?

The TV series "Billions," which depicts the business battles of hedge funds, once sparked a ratings frenzy in the past two years.

One character in the show is a psychologist hired by the company, who also serves as the hedge fund's psychologist and performance coach, considered the company's "secret weapon."

The role of this "weapon" is to help traders cope with stress, overcome psychological biases, and improve trading performance...

In reality, mysterious hedge fund institutions are always "tight-lipped" about their team structures, but as some giants accelerate their global expansion, related job recruitment has become increasingly "high-profile."

Citadel, which manages $65 billion in assets, recently poached a "special talent" from a major Wall Street investment bank.

Job Innovation in Hedge Funds

Citadel confirmed to ZhiShiTang that the firm has established the position of Chief Medical Officer for the first time, hiring former Morgan Stanley executive David Stark for this role. He will officially join in September 2025 and will be responsible for building the medical benefits system for this hedge fund.

It is worth noting that Citadel is a hedge fund business platform managing client assets. Ken Griffin, the actual controller of Citadel, has an affiliated company, Citadel Securities, which is a market-making institution and has submitted an application to establish a securities company to the China Securities Regulatory Commission earlier this year.

ZhiShiTang learned that the aforementioned Chief Medical Officer position is set within Citadel's hedge fund business team, rather than the market-making business team.

What is a "Chief Medical Officer"?

ZhiShiTang reviewed public information and found that Stark has publicly discussed his work positioning as "Chief Medical Officer" during his time at the investment bank.

For example, "The core responsibility is to enhance employee physical, mental, and financial health through data-driven health programs. We track metrics such as service utilization rates, costs, quality outcomes, and employee experience."

Additionally, "The impact of the health team on productivity is difficult to quantify but evident: increased employee engagement, reduced absenteeism, and decreased burnout rates."

Stark observed that many companies have "cost concerns" regarding the establishment of a "Chief Medical Officer."

In a public speech, he pointed out that according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, depression leads to a loss of 200 million workdays annually, costing employers between $17 billion and $44 billion (equivalent to RMB 122.4 billion to RMB 316.8 billion).

When Stark joined Morgan Stanley in 2017, the Chief Human Resources Officer of the investment bank stated: "(Hiring Stark) can both enhance employee health levels and control the continuously rising medical costs... helping to optimize our medical benefits system..."

His resume shows that Stark graduated with a degree in biology from Yale University, later obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School, and earned a Master's degree in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University.

Benefits "Planner"

ZhiShiTang further learned that during his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Stark held the position of Chief Medical Officer as well as Global Benefits Head Official information describes: "Responsible for leading the organization to provide health and wellness protection for over 80,000 employees and their families in more than 40 countries worldwide."

In other words, Stark's work not only covers the medical field but also extends to talent welfare planning. He has revealed the following welfare contents:

First, exclusive primary medical services (usually including: assigning dedicated doctors to employees, in-depth understanding of personal health history; priority appointment rights; chronic disease management, nutrition plans, etc.)

Second, global fitness subsidies

Third, paid caregiving leave

Fourth, employee stock ownership plans

Fifth, mental health support/401(k) matching/parental leave/family building benefits (covering childbirth, adoption, surrogacy, etc.)

It is evident that the aforementioned executive has arranged a one-stop solution for "healthcare + vacation arrangements + incentive employee stock plans" during his time in Wall Street investment banks.

Additionally, it is understood that Stark holds multiple professional qualifications and is a certified pediatric neurologist and clinical informatics expert. He has expressed concern for the health of the next generation of employees' children, indicating that this is also within his business coverage area.

The "Health Depletion" of Hedge Funds

The establishment of a Chief Medical Officer at Castle Investment reflects the changing talent needs within this hedge fund.

According to Zhitong Finance, Castle Investment has collaborated with external organizations for many years, hiring private wellness coaches and marketers to serve employees, and has also established the position of Global Director of Dining.

In fact, talent in hedge funds faces health depletion unique to the industry.

A 2023 overseas financial research journal pointed out that high-frequency trading teams face continuous nerve tension, and long-term exposure to market volatility pressure can lead to a 30%-50% increase in cortisol levels (the "stress hormone").

Moreover, related research has indicated that traders who typically work at night have a 40% higher incidence of diabetes compared to other daytime workers.

For frontline hedge institutions like Castle Investment, many adopt the "Portfolio Manager System" (commonly known as "PM System"), where multiple small teams (led by PMs) are set up internally to compete with each other, leading to survival of the fittest.

To illustrate, imagine a hedge fund operating under the PM System as a restaurant with multiple "chefs."

Unlike a traditional restaurant that may have only one head chef deciding all dishes (where the fund owner has the final say), in a hedge fund implementing the PM System, each chef (PM) focuses on their specialty cuisine (investment strategy). They all have the opportunity to sell their cuisine in the restaurant, with the customers of the restaurant determining their fate.

It is easy to imagine the performance pressure each chef (fund manager) faces under such a system. Their performance directly determines their bonuses and even "survival time" for themselves and their small teams; if performance is poor, the entire small team may face elimination.

Can It Be Replicated in China?

Zhitong Finance has communicated with several private equity hedge funds and found that leading institutions have significantly increased "welfare spending" over the past five years.

For example: support for settling in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, assistance for children's education, and various types of leave support For example: the convenience of meal arrangements three times a day in the workplace; massage/fitness benefits in collaboration with external institutions.

Another example: the "connection" of medical resources for employees and their families, such as VIP medical accompaniment services for family members of employees, allowing employees to focus more on investment research work.

Additionally: sleep support, with the establishment of sleep pods in the workplace that have oxygen levels conducive to quick sleep, benefiting employees during lunch breaks and external trading hours.

In-depth services for mental and physical health, especially those involving medical history details and mindset changes, have not yet seen corresponding specific cases in large domestic hedge funds.

A person from a quantitative private equity firm with billions in assets expressed to ZhiShiTang that the detailed information management of mental and physical health involves a sensitive boundary. If there is a dedicated person within the company responsible for collecting (especially psychological and mental information), it would involve reporting to the company's executive team, which is not conducive to protecting employee privacy and could even lead to labor disputes.

The "Chief Medical Officer" role at Castle Investment will involve an "ethical boundary," determining which information needs to be shared with the company's management and which information should be kept confidential from the employee's perspective.

After all, the "Chief Medical Officer" is hired by the hedge fund owner, making it crucial to determine "who ultimately serves" in specific issues.

Risk Warning and Disclaimer

The market has risks, and investment should be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article align with their specific circumstances. Investing based on this is at one's own risk