Hedge Fund Compensation Report Shows Increase In Pay For 2008

The 2008 Hedge Fund Compensation Report was released today by Glocap Search LLC, Institutional Investor News, and Lipper HedgeWorld. The report is an analysis of 2007 compensation paid by U.S. hedge funds including estimates for cash bonuses expected to be paid in early 2008. The data shows that compensation for all titles and job functions covered by the report will continue to increase.

Among other things, the 2008 Report shows that the average compensation for investment professionals with 1-4 years of experience at funds with $1-3 billion in assets under management is estimated to come in at just over $330,000. While the average compensation for investment professionals with 10 or more years of experience at hedge funds with $10 billion or more in assets under management (a new category this year and the largest in the report) is estimated to hit $2.35 million this year.

The report also estimates that fundraisers will earn average pay packages of about $730,000 this year and total cash compensation for Senior Analysts at fund of funds is expected to hit $325,000.

Adam Zoia, Managing Partner at Glocap, noted that, as hedge funds continue to attract capital at rapid rates and the markets have become more competitive, there has been a heightened need for more qualified professionals to help invest the money, and that demand has pushed compensation higher at any given level of fund performance.

The report analyzes base salaries and bonuses of thousands of hedge fund professionals at hundreds of U.S. hedge fund firms for the years 2004-2007, including Investment Professionals, Traders, CFOs, COOs, Fund Marketers, Administrative & Executive Assistants, Information Technology, Risk Management, Operations and Legal & Compliance professionals. The data in the Report comes from a combination of first-hand feedback from Glocap candidates on past and expected compensation, actual placement data maintained by Glocap in the course of its search business and from survey results by its recruiters.

Zoia added that the 2008 report was improved to reflect the changing landscape of the hedge fund industry. Specifically, fund sizes were altered to include even larger funds and compensation data was added on fund of funds. "As we are every year, Glocap is once again happy to be a part of what has become an established compensation planning tool for hedge funds of all sizes," Zoia said.