Bridgewater Leads in Investor Survey

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009
Author: Zachery Kouwe, The New York Times

Bridgewater Associates, the giant hedge fund based in Connecticut, scored the top spot in a new survey asking institutional investors which they thought were the best of the big hedge fund firms.

The survey, which was conducted by AR Magazine, asked investors to consider a six factors when ranking hedge fund managers: performance, infrastructure, alignment of interests, independent oversight, liquidity terms and transparency.

Bridgewater, the largest firm on the list with $37 billion under management, scored highest over all, beating out Tudor Investment and Paulson & Company.

Lower-ranking firms, like Renaissance Technologies, Harbinger Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group were chided for caring more about their own financial interests than those of their investors.

“They have always taken the attitude that you should feel privileged to be served by Goldman,” one respondent to the survey said of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Alignment of interests was the most important factor when selecting or ranking a hedge fund before performance and independent oversight, according to the study. Elliot Associates scored the top spot in that category and Tudor ranked highest for performance.

AR’s Hedge Fund Report Card July 2009

1. Bridgewater Associates
2. Tudor Investment
3. Paulson & Company
4. JPMorgan Chase’s Highbridge Capital Management
5. Taconic Capital Advisors
6. King Street Capital Management
7. Davidson Kempner Advisors
8. Viking Global Investors (tie)
9. Canyon Capital Advisors (tie)
10. York Capital Managment
11. Wellington Management
12. Elliot Associates
13. Maverick Capital
14. GoldenTree Asset Management
15. Barclays Global Investors
16. Eton Park Capital Management
17. D. E. Shaw
18. Magnetar Capital
19. Och-Ziff Capital Management
20. Moore Capital Management

AR’s Billion-Dollar Club

1. Bridgewater Associates ($37 billion)
2. JPMorgan Chase Asset Management ($36 billion)
3. Paulson & Company ($27.2 billion)
4. D. E. Shaw Group ($26.7 billion)
5. Soros Fund Management ($24 billion)
6. Goldman Sachs Asset Management ($20.8 billion)
7. Och-Ziff Capital Management ($20.7 billion)
8. Baupost Group ($19 billion)
9. Farallon Capital Management ($18 billion)
10. Angelo Gordon ($17 billion) (tie)
11. Avenue Capital Group ($17 billion) (tie)
12. Renaissance Technologies ($17 billion ) (tie)