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Ranking the hedge funds that pay the best

As it turns out, hedge funds employees who work the hardest don’t always get paid the most. Our recent ranking of hedge funds based on working hours doesn’t match up all that well with those that pay the best, though there are a few exceptions.

The rankings below come from a recent Wall Street Oasis survey that asked employees how their compensation compared with similar jobs elsewhere, so it touches both on how much employees bring home as well as how satisfied they feel compared to those working at other funds. The data doesn’t include specific salary and bonus figures as it’s fruitless to compare compensation totals across different levels of experience (and there are never enough data points from every firm at each rung of the ladder).

As you can see below, the biggest names in the industry dominate the top half of the rankings, with Citadel and D.E. Shaw leading the pack. Analysts at Citadel can earn nearly $150k plus an average bonus of around $80k, according to WSO.

If the rankings say anything, it’s that longevity and strong pay are directly correlated. Citadel and D.E. Shaw were each founded over 30 years ago; Bridgewater has been in business for more than 40 years. The “youngest” firm in the top five is Steven Cohen’s Point72, which launched as SAC Capital back in 1992.

The rankings also include several big quant funds, such as D.E. Shaw, Two Sigma and AQR Capital. Many of the other top firms are multi-strategy funds that have been furiously adding more quants, including Millennium and Point72.

The chart below contains the top 30 hedge funds as well as a few of the bigger names that fell lower down the list. Nearly four dozen hedge funds were accounted for in the study.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: btuttle@efinancialcareers.com

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AUTHORBeecher Tuttle US Editor

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