JPMorgan Top Hedge Fund, Pensions & Investments Says

Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Author: Bloomberg

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the New York- based bank run by Jamie Dimon, is the world’s biggest hedge-fund firm by assets, according to Pensions & Investments magazine.

JPMorgan, which owns Highbridge Capital Management LLC, managed $53.5 billion at the end of last year, according to a survey by the magazine published on its Web site. Highbridge oversaw $21 billion while the bank’s JPMorgan Asset Management unit had $32.5 billion in hedge-fund assets.

Bridgewater Associates LP, the Westport, Connecticut-based firm founded by Ray Dalio, ranked second with $43.6 billion. New York-based Paulson & Co., run by John Paulson, was third with $32 billion, the magazine said.

Next on the list are three firms that exceeded $20 billion for the first time, Pensions & Investments said. London-based Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and George Soros’s New York- based Soros Fund Management LLC each had $27 billion. Man Group Plc, based in London, managed $25.3 billion. Baupost Group LLC, run by Seth Klarman in Boston, was also new to the list, with $20 billion in assets.

The top 11 hedge funds managing at least $20 billion oversaw a combined $316.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009, compared with $316 billion that the top 10 firms managed at the end of 2007, the survey shows.

“The flat growth disguises what clearly was a period of intense turmoil for many hedge-fund managers,” the magazine said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s fund unit in New York, Renaissance Technologies Corp. and Citadel Investment Group LLC each fell under $20 billion, Pensions & Investments said. Goldman Sachs Asset Management oversaw $17.8 billion at the end of 2009, while East Setauket, New York-based Renaissance, founded by James Simons, managed $15 billion. Chicago-based Citadel, run by Ken Griffin, has $12.2 billion, P&I said.

Largest Hedge-Fund Managers
(Ranked by assets as of Dec. 31, 2009)

Firm                        Assets (billions)
JPMorgan Chase              $53.5
Bridgewater Associates      $43.6
Paulson & Co.               $32
Brevan Howard               $27
Soros Fund Management       $27
Man Group                   $25.3
Och-Ziff Capital            $23.1
D.E. Shaw*                  $23
BlackRock/Barclays Global   $21
Farallon Capital            $20.7
Baupost Group**             $20
Goldman Sachs Asset         $17.8
BlueCrest Capital           $17.3
Canyon Partners             $17
Landsdowne Partners*        $15
Renaissance Technologies    $15
Fortress Investment         $13.8
Moore Capital               $12.4
Viking Global*              $12.4
Citadel Investment          $12.2
SAC Capital                 $12
GLG Partners                $11.5
Tudor Investment            $10

Source: Pension & Investments magazine.
*As of Jan. 1, 2010
**As of Sept. 30, 2009