Freestone Grove’s Energy Head Michael Pope Leaves the Firm

A high power dealer is leaving the $6.5 billion hedge fund Freestone Grove simply two years after serving to launch the agency, two individuals acquainted with the matter informed Enterprise Insider.

Michael Pope’s departure from the agency means Freestone will not have a stand-alone power investing workforce. An individual near the supervisor informed Enterprise Insider that Freestone didn’t see the identical money-making alternative in power and pure assets firms because it did in different sectors.

Pope’s analysts will work for different groups on the agency, this individual mentioned.

Pope has been the supervisor’s pure assets sector head because the fund’s launch in early 2024, closing his personal fund, Wellfield Capital, to affix Freestone founder Todd Barker. Pope beforehand labored for Barker at Citadel.

Freestone declined to remark. Pope didn’t reply to requests for remark. His profile on the agency’s web site was not too long ago eliminated.

The agency has not too long ago expanded its funding head depend to bolster its concentrate on different sectors, in keeping with an individual acquainted, together with:

• Micah Nance is about to affix later this yr as Freestone’s expertise, media, and telecoms sector head, the individual near the agency mentioned. Nance is a former Citadel associate.
• Tsz Hin Kwok, a former lawyer who has labored as an analyst at Citadel for the previous 7 years, would be the agency’s first event-driven PM when he joins later this yr.
• Jared Franken, a former managing director at Interval Companions, joined the agency earlier this yr as a portfolio supervisor targeted on industrials.
• The agency additionally promoted analysts Daniel Goldberg and Charlie Witmer to portfolio managers. The pair commerce client and healthcare shares, respectively.

The agency’s $3.5 billion launch was considerably overshadowed by Jain Global’s $5.3 billion debut in 2024. Nonetheless, Freestone has steadily grown its asset base and its funding head depend to 105 individuals over the previous two years, whereas Jain decided to return external capital to handle cash solely for Millennium. Enterprise Insider reported that Freestone was additionally open to new capital from choose traders.

The fund was up 8.5% in 2025 however misplaced cash within the first quarter of 2026. An individual near the agency mentioned Freestone recovered its losses within the second quarter, with the fund up roughly 1% via the primary half of the yr.