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Polar Asset Management Partners

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DISCOVER POLAR

At Polar, our approach to partnership is what makes us different, in working with our investors, our business partners, and our community. We exist to forge bonds that strengthen as we and the world around us evolve.

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Building @partnerships@ for 30+ years

Polar was founded in 1991 in Toronto. Today, we’ve grown into a global alternative asset manager embracing our Canadian heritage. Our niche-oriented strategies attract the world’s preeminent investors. Ever-changing market conditions require significant investment in technology and infrastructure, and allow our people to accomplish our mission of achieving superior risk-adjusted returns. 


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We approach the world @differently@

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Our leadership has worked on building a culture of integrity, collaboration, and generosity focused on serving the people we work for and the people we work with, in the spirit of partnership.

Forging enduring bonds

Paul Sabourin is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners. Mr. Sabourin co-founded Polar in 1991 where he sets the Firm’s investment strategy and oversees the investment management team. He began his career at Burns Fry Ltd. in 1982, gaining experience in research and trading equity and equity derivatives. In 1987, he became a Director at Burns Fry, a member of the Executive Committee, and was responsible for managing the firm’s institutional equity trading group. Mr. Sabourin is currently Board Chair of the Trillium Health Partners Foundation and Co-Chair of THPF’s Capital Campaign, and actively supports the annual fundraising campaign of the United Way of Greater Toronto. Mr. Sabourin is also a member of the Canadian and Indigenous Acquisitions Committee at the Art Gallery of Ontario and is an avid collector of Canadian mid-century and modern art. Mr. Sabourin received a BA from the University of Toronto in 1975 and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University in 1980.

Paul Sabourin

Chairman & Chief Investment Officer

Greg Lemaich is President and Chief Executive Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners. Mr. Lemaich joined Polar in 2012 in a legal role before assuming the title of Chief Compliance Officer in 2016, and then became Chief Operating Officer in 2019. Mr. Lemaich was made President in 2023 and Chief Executive Officer in 2024, and his focus is on continuing to manage, strengthen and evolve the Firm’s business and operational capabilities. Prior to joining Polar in 2012, he was at a Toronto-based hedge fund as Vice President of Corporate Operations & General Counsel. Mr. Lemaich began his career in law in private practice, focused on corporate securities. He earned a BASc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2002 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2006. Mr. Lemaich became a member of the Law Society of Ontario in 2007.

Greg Lemaich

President and Chief Executive Officer

Rich Puma is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners. Prior to joining Polar in 2023, Mr. Puma held senior positions at various investment advisors and trading firms within the financial services industry. Most recently, he was COO & CFO of HC Technologies, an algorithmic and systematic trading firm, from 2018-2022; Partner, COO, and CFO of Duane Park Capital Management, a long/short credit fund, from 2016-2018; and Partner, Deputy COO at Tudor Investment Corporation from 2013-2016. Prior to Tudor, Mr. Puma was a Partner, CFO, COO at Ospraie Management, a spin out of Tudor, from 2004-2013. Prior to joining Ospraie, he was Head of US & Emerging Market Operations and Trade Support at Tudor from 1996-2003. Mr. Puma graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Rutgers University in 1990 and earned his Certified Public Accountant designation in 1993.

Rich Puma

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Mike Beaton is Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Portfolio Construction at Polar Asset Management Partners and works within the Office of the CIO where he is responsible for a range of portfolio and strategy-level analysis and initiatives, ranging from the incubation of new strategies and portfolio manager development, to portfolio efficiency efforts. Mr. Beaton joined Polar in 2016 as a Portfolio Manager and developed a systematic trend-following strategy and also spent time working within the Fixed Income team. Prior to Polar, Mr. Beaton was at The Carlyle Group, formerly Diversified Global Asset Management Group (from 2012-2016), most recently as a Managing Director (2015-2016) where he was responsible for liquid systematic strategies. Prior to Carlyle, he was a Partner at Breton Hill Capital and traded for the quant macro fund from 2010-2012. Mr. Beaton graduated with a B.Sc with Honors in Math and Economics from Queen’s University in 2001 and earned a Masters degree in Mathematical Finance from the University of Toronto in 2004. Mr. Beaton is a CFA® Charterholder, having earned the designation in 2006.

Mike Beaton

Deputy CIO and Head of Portfolio Construction

Bill Peckford is Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Equities at Polar Asset Management Partners. Mr. Peckford joined Polar in 1995 as an Equity Analyst and developed the US Equity Long/Short strategy in 1997. Mr. Peckford has overseen the buildout of the current sector-specialist portfolio management model that underlies Polar’s Long/Short equity strategy. Mr. Peckford has been a member of the board of Directors of Polar Financial since 2004, and a member of the board of Polar Foundation since 2009. Shortly after moving to Toronto in 1991, he joined SEI Financial Services as a performance measurement analyst. In 1993, Mr. Peckford joined Marquest Investment Counsel where he was involved with performance measurement, cash management, equity research, trading, and analysis. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary's University of Halifax in 1990. Mr. Peckford is a CFA® Charterholder, having earned the designation in 1994.

Bill Peckford

Deputy CIO and Head of Equities

Les Young is Global Head, Client Group and Investor Relations at Polar Asset Management Partners where he is responsible for the Firm’s global distribution strategy. He also oversees client services for both institutional and advisory partners. Mr. Young joined Polar in 2013 as a Director focusing on marketing and fundraising across all investor segments. Prior to Polar, he was at Manulife Asset Management from 2008-2013 holding successive positions in marketing and fixed income product management, culminating as Managing Director, Institutional Sales. Mr. Young graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie University in 2002.

Les Young

Global Head, Client Group and Investor Relations

Julia Whitfield is Head of Talent at Polar Asset Management Partners and is responsible for talent acquisition and development, and culture and human resources. Ms. Whitfield joined Polar in 2018. She began her career in London, working for Merrill Lynch and Maple Securities in capital markets. She then worked in London, New York, and Hong Kong for over a decade in executive search leadership roles, specializing in global investment management. Ms. Whitfield consulted for the Equality & Human Rights Commission (UK) on the Financial Services Inquiry, a significant report into gender equality in the Financial Services industry, as well as a review of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She currently holds leadership appointments on both corporate and voluntary boards across Canada. Ms. Whitfield graduated with a BA in Applied Economics from Queen’s University in 2001 and earned a degree in Mathematical Finance from the University of London in 2006.

Julia Whitfield

Head of Talent

Alexander Bondarenko is Chief Risk Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners where he leads the risk management team responsible for stress testing, exposure monitoring, and scenario analysis. Prior to joining Polar in 2017, Mr. Bondarenko spent over fifteen years at Scotia Capital, where he was most recently a Director of Credit Derivatives Trading within the Global Fixed Income group responsible for maintaining a relative value trading strategy in US investment-grade and high yield cash and derivative products. He worked within Scotia’s Risk Management Analytics group, including hedge fund counterparty credit from 2001-2010. Mr. Bondarenko earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1997 and a Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999.

Alexander Bondarenko

Chief Risk Officer

Andrew Ma is Chief Compliance Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners. Prior to joining Polar in 2019, Mr. Ma held the role of Chief Compliance Officer and/or Chief Operating Officer at other Toronto-based investment fund companies, most notably at Timbercreek Investment Management from 2017-2018 and Picton Mahoney Asset Management from 2014-2017. Prior to Picton Mahoney, Mr. Ma spent over nine years at Sprott Asset Management. Mr. Ma has over twenty years of experience across compliance, risk management, and operations relating to Canadian, US, and offshore investment fund management. Mr. Ma earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto in 2001 and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Toronto in 2002. Mr. Ma is a CFA® Charterholder, having earned the designation in 2006.

Andrew Ma

Chief Compliance Officer

Siddharth Ganesan is Head of Technology at Polar Asset Management Partners. Mr. Ganesan joined Polar in 2015 and leads four departments: Software Development, Data, IT Ops & Cybersecurity, and Quant. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ganesan was Director of Data & Systems and helped build the data function at the Firm. When Mr. Ganesan joined Polar’s Risk & Technology team he was responsible for the design and development of analytics platforms and middle office systems. Prior to joining Polar, he was a Software Architect at Agricorp from 2012-2015, where he worked on various desktop and web-based systems. Mr. Ganesan started his career at BlackBerry in Software development and project management. Mr. Ganesan graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Science from University of Toronto in 2011.

Siddharth Ganesan

Head of Technology

Our leadership

We believe in being generous with our time and expertise because growing collectively is how we define success. That’s why we invest in the growth and development of our talent.

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@Good@ people make all the difference

Find out more about our approach to investing, from uncovering opportunities through thoughtful collaboration to mitigating risk across changing market conditions.  

DISCOVER POLAR

Building partnerships for 30+ years

We approach the world differently

Forging enduring bonds

Our leadership

Good people make all the difference

Charging ahead together