Rewarding poor performance

Here’s a surprise. According to the Financial Times, assets at the largest U.S. hedge funds grew by more than a third last year, despite heavy redemptions and less than stellar performance. The paper says three of the 10 largest funds lost a combined $24 billion in assets.

JPMorgan retained its position as the largest U.S. hedge fund manager, with $44.7 billion under management. This occurred even though it lost $8.5 billion in assets over the course of the year. The Times also says Goldman Sachs lost heavily as a result of problems at its flagship alpha fund and two quant equity funds that fell victim to heightened market volatility.