Who says income distribution is skewed toward the top? In hedge funds last year, most employees made more money than they did in 2009, with some junior professionals getting the biggest raises, while the chief executives and chief investment professionals’ compensation didn’t match the big gains of 2009.
The median compensation package for investment professionals was 23% more in 2010 than in 2009, at about $400,000. Average pay, however, was about flat, at $805,063. That’s one indication that most of the gains came from the bottom, not the top. Bonuses drove the higher compensation packages, with base salaries remaining relatively stable.
Junior staffers saw bigger jumps in total compensation and bonuses than their senior counterparts by some measures—a sign that hedge funds are trying to retain up-and-coming talent. Hedge funds also paid up big in the areas of compliance, marketing and risk management, as the postcrash...