MSNBC -James Simons of Renaissance Technologies and T.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u00b0Boone Pickens Jr of BP Capital Management raked in $1.5bn and $1.4bn in 2005, putting them at the top of the Institutional Investor’s Alphamagazine list of the Top 25 highest paid hedge fund managers.<\/p>\n
This year’s list, the industry standard and a must for those who want to follow the money in the hedge fund industry, marks the first time two fund managers have earned more than $1bn.<\/p>\n
The 26 hedge fund managers on the list (one extra due to a tie for 25th place) earned $363m on average \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 up 45 per cent from the $251m average in 2004. The top slots are an indication of the trends and strategies that are leading the hedge fund industry.<\/p>\n
Mr Simons, who routinely turns up on the list, runs one of the best-regarded hedge funds that uses mathematically driven strategies \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 a category of quantitative funds whose numbers and size are growing.<\/p>\n
Given the hefty fee structure of Renaissance’s flagship fund \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 5 per cent management fee and 44 per cent performance fee, compared with the typical 2 per cent and 20 per cent \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 and the extraordinary gross return of nearly 60 per cent, it was a banner year.<\/p>\n