The combined earnings of the world's top 25 hedge fund managers of almost $15 billion (€11 billion) exceeded the national income of Jordan last year. Three individuals took home more than $1 billion, according to an annual industry survey.
The survey by Alphamagazine put Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies on earnings of $1.7 billion, Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group on $1.4 billion and Eddie Lampert of ESL Investments on $1.3 billion. The previous year, two managers, Mr Simons and the septuagenarian oilman T Boone Pickens of BP Capital Management, topped the $1 billion mark.
The earnings reflect record investment into hedge funds, with the money increasingly flowing into the biggest managers as institutional investors such as pension funds begin to put cash into the industry.
It also illustrates the growing power of the elite band of billionaires at the top of the industry.
The findings are likely to prompt anger and envy in equal measure. Trade unions have increasingly lumped hedge funds together with the private-equity groups they accuse of asset stripping, while many Wall Street and City of London staff remain keen to defect to funds.
However, investors remain largely unconcerned about compensation levels, which are closely tied to performance. According to a survey by the prime brokerage arm of Goldman Sachs, more than four in five investors expect pay to remain the same this year as last.
Arki Busson, chairman of fund of hedge funds EIM, said: "These guys are creating a huge amount of wealth for their investors, so it is only right that they should get paid."
The Alpha survey found that the average earnings of the top 25 has more than doubled in two years to $570 million.
Those making it to the top of the pay league are typically the best performers among the biggest funds, as fees mainly come from a percentage of profits, typically 20 per cent - although some, like SAC Capital's Steven Cohen, ranked fifth with pay of $900 million, charge far more.
Only one British fund, GLG, made it to the top 25, with co-founders Noam Gottesman and Pierre Lagrange earning $240 million each to reach joint 23rd place, according to the Alpha survey.
- (Financial Times service)
