BOSTON (Reuters) – The world’s top 20 hedge funds earned $ 63.5 billion for customers in 2020, setting a record for the past 10 years in a chaotic time when technology-driven stocks have led to a dramatic return following a pandemic-induced sale, LCH Investment data show.
As a group, the most successful managers earned half of the $ 127 billion that all hedge funds made last year, LCH Investments, a fundraising firm that is part of the Edmond de Rothschild group. .
Despite the pandemic that triggered a historic stock market sale in March, closed large sectors of the economy and swallowed millions of jobs, the top 20 hedge funds exceeded 2019 revenues of $ 59.3 billion. This was despite the fact that 2020 was not as profitable as the previous year for hedge funds as a whole, which saw revenues fall from $ 178 billion in 2019.
The average hedging fund returned 11.6% in 2020, according to Hedge Fund Research, lagging behind with a 16% gain in the S&P 500 index.
“Net earnings generated by top 20 managers for their $ 63.5 billion investors were the highest in a decade. In this sense, 2020 was the year of the hedge fund “, said Rick Sopher, president of LCH, in a statement.
Last year’s biggest winners include Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global, which grossed $ 10.4 billion, Israel Englander’s Millennium, which grossed $ 10.2 billion, and Lone Pine, by Steve Mandel. with $ 9.1 billion. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global Investors earned $ 7.0 billion and Ken Griffin’s Fortress earned $ 6.2 billion, according to LCH data.
Bridgewater Associates, of Ray Dalio, founded in 1975, has maintained its No. 1 ranking since the beginning, with $ 46.5 billion earned, even after a terrible 2020 in which LCH data show that Dalio lost 12.1 billion of dollars.
The management of George Soros’ Soros fund, which no longer manages money for external clients, remained in 2nd place, followed by Mandel, Griffin and DE Shaw managers, who finished the top five performers of all time.
In 2020, only Dalio and John Paulson’s Paulson & Co., which won billions in real estate betting during the financial crisis, lost money, the data show.
The resurgence of Jim Simons’ technologies, often ranked among the most successful funds in the world due to the profitability of Medallion’s portfolio, gave up the top 20 performing artists after funding to outsiders fell by 20% to 30% last year.
“The conditions favored the man over the car and it was remarkable that Renaissance Technologies, a car manager, dropped out of the top 20,” said Sopher.
Report by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Edited by Daniel Wallis