IMC Trading Aarhus: Powering up in Denmark with a new energy-trading office

IMC has taken a major step in its global growth journey by opening a new office in Aarhus, Denmark – a springboard into the fast-paced world of gas and power trading. We spoke with Ben Smithson, Head of Energy Trading, and Michael Vosgerau, Managing Director Operations for IMC Aarhus, about why IMC Trading is expanding into gas and power trading – and how they’re building this new capability on the firm’s strong quantitative and technology foundations.

Why energy trading? And why now?

It all comes down to one word – volatility. Back in 2022, a wave of energy-related events, including the Nord Stream gas pipeline incident and nuclear power plant shutdowns in France, brought unprecedented disruption to Europe’s gas and power markets.

“The volatility in recent years has created a clear opportunity for IMC to apply its expertise in this space,” says Ben. “There are similarities between gas and power and the products IMC has traditionally traded: energy markets move quickly and are very data-driven, which aligns well with the firm’s quantitative capabilities.”

Aarhus: A strategic hub for energy trading

Aarhus, Denmark’s second-biggest city, sits at the epicenter of Europe's power-trading market, making it a natural home for IMC’s new venture.

“Denmark was one of the first countries to liberalize its electricity market in the late 1990s,” explains Michael. “This has created a dense local network of trading firms as well as deep trading and tech expertise.”

This thriving ecosystem is fueled by top-tier talent from Denmark’s world-class technical universities, which excel in fields like engineering and technology. With graduates and skilled professionals drawn to Aarhus’ buzzing social scene, it offers IMC the talent density to rapidly scale its quant research, trading, and engineering teams.

At the same time, both Michael and Ben believe IMC can bring something new to a market that’s still developing from a technology perspective.

"IMC has a real edge when it comes to technology," Ben adds. “We see significant opportunities to leverage the firm’s quant research capabilities to the gas and power markets, whether that’s using forecast data from providers or developing our own machine learning models.”

Powering up for the challenge

Over the past few months, IMC’s growing team in Denmark has been busy laying the groundwork to seize these kinds of opportunities and attract the right minds to IMC trader jobs and other key roles.

“We’re creating a critical mass of talent,” says Ben. “We’ve focused on hiring experienced people who understand the energy markets and are excited to combine that expertise with IMC’s established strengths. This strong foundation will allow us to bring in graduates and develop the next generation of energy traders and researchers.”

These ingredients have made for a uniquely entrepreneurial work environment. "The IMC Aarhus office has a real start-up vibe," says Michael. "There are no legacy systems. You can build from scratch and have a lot of influence on how things are designed. It’s also fun being part of a close-knit, hands-on team: everyone working here has real influence and responsibility from day one.”

The energy markets are evolving fast. And so are we. Check out the dynamic IMC careers in Aarhus.