The wallets of hedge fund managers are looking fatter this year.
Total compensation for hedge fund portfolio managers is expected to climb 40 percent, to $1.4 million, in 2018, according to Institutional Investor’s second annual All-American Buy-Side Compensation Survey.
The hedgies on average reported a 25 percent jump in base pay — to $346,164 — and more than $1 million in variable compensation.
Portfolio managers at hedge funds with more than $5 billion in assets are feeling even more flush, as they are expected to earn $2.8 million in total compensation.
The big gains are due in part to bonuses for 2017 performance — when hedge funds returned 8.6 percent — being paid in 2018.
This year hasn’t been kind to hedgie portfolios, which are down 1.7 percent this year, according to a report by Hedge Fund Research Wednesday.
October was a particularly brutal month for hedge funds, as they suffered their worst month in seven years after plunging nearly 3 percent, HFR noted.
Nevertheless, Institutional Investor noted that hedgies were “broadly optimistic” about their future paychecks, even amid fears of an economic slowdown.


