A top trader at a $12.6 billion hedge fund is going it alone

Giles Coppel, a top trader in Brevan Howard's New York office, is prepping his own hedge fund, people familiar with the matter said.

Brevan Howard is backing Coppel with $200 million, one of the people said.

Coppel has headed trading since 2012, according to his Bloomberg profile. He previously worked at Tudor Investment Corp. and Lehman Brothers, according to the profile.

Coppel couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The people familiar with the launch asked not to be named because the information is private.

Brevan was once one of world's largest hedge fund firms. It has been struggling over the past few years, with assets tumbling to about $12.6 billion at the end of May, a person familiar with the situation said. That's a big drop from its peak of around $40 billion in 2013.

Coppel's launch would follow others from Brevan alumni.

Earlier this year, former Brevan partner Ben Melkman launched Light Sky Macro, one of the largest launches of the year.

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