Daniel Amsbury, who spent years as a dominant force on the London Metal Exchange as a trader for JPMorgan Chase & Co., is set to join Trafigura Group, according to people familiar with the matter.
Amsbury, known in the tight-knit world of the LME as ‘Disco,’ is the latest veteran of JPMorgan’s metals team to take a high-profile role in the physical trading industry.
He worked at JPMorgan for 15 years and was the key trader managing the bank’s nickel positions as an historic short squeeze centered on one of its clients erupted in 2022. Amsbury was also responsible for the bank’s aluminum and zinc trading books, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment. Amsbury did not reply to a message seeking comment.
While Trafigura has long been a key player in metals, competition for talent has heated up over the past year as traditional energy traders aggressively expanded into the market — in many cases hiring former JPMorgan traders in prominent roles.
The dominance of ex-JPMorgan traders is especially true in the aluminum market, where Vitol Group, Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Gunvor Group all have alumni of the bank leading their trading.
It wasn’t clear which metals Amsbury would be responsible for trading at Trafigura. He’s set to join Trafigura in London, the people said — an unusual arrangement for the trading house, which runs metal trading from its headquarters in Geneva.
The departures from JPMorgan’s metals team come after the bank pulled back from some business in the wake of the nickel crisis. It nonetheless remains a major player in metals markets alongside competitors like Citigroup Inc. and Macquarie Group Ltd.
JPMorgan was the largest counterparty for Tsingshan Holding Group Co., whose huge short position was a key catalyst in a spike in nickel prices in March 2022 that ultimately spurred the LME to suspend the market and cancel billions of dollars of trades.
(By Jack Farchy and Archie Hunter)
