LONDON
Chris Foster, the senior portfolio manager whose London-based team generated approximately $2 billion in trading profits from European natural gas in 2022, is departing Citadel.
Foster's aggressive positioning during Russia's invasion of Ukraine capitalized on extreme price swings as Moscow curtailed gas flows to Europe. Those $2 billion profits formed a substantial portion of Citadel's commodities division haul of roughly $8 billion that year—a performance that helped establish Ken Griffin's firm as the most profitable hedge fund on record, surpassing Bridgewater Associates.
But the trading environment that enabled that outperformance has evaporated. European natural gas prices have normalized, storage levels stabilized, and the continent has diversified supply sources away from Russian pipeline gas. Citadel's commodities returns compressed in 2023, 2024, and into 2025 as volatility collapsed.
Citadel itself signaled a strategic pivot away from pure trading dislocation. In March 2025, the firm acquired Paloma Natural Gas assets in the Haynesville Shale for approximately $1 billion, rebranding them as Apex Natural Gas and establishing a direct foothold in U.S. production.
Foster also garnered attention for a £25 million donation to Mansfield College at Oxford University, his alma mater, reported as the largest single gift in the college's approximately 200-year history.
