How do Hedge Funds Make Money? (2024)

FAQs

How do Hedge Funds Make Money? ›

Hedge funds make money as part of a fee structure paid by fund investors based on assets under management (AUM). Funds typically receive a flat fee plus a percentage of positive returns that exceed some benchmark or hurdle rate.

Hedge fund strategies involve investing in debt and equity securities, commodities, currencies, derivatives, and real estate. Hedge funds are loosely regulated by the SEC and earn money from the 2% management fee and 20% performance fee structure.

Hedge funds use pooled funds to focus on high-risk, high-return investments, often with a focus on shorting — so you can earn profit even when stocks fall.

Hedge funds use unique trading strategies for investing in order to beat the returns of the market. They take on higher risk, hedge their risk, invest in alternative assets, and use active management when investing. They are typically only open to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

It involves buying a product and selling it immediately in another market for a higher price; thus, making small but steady profits. The strategy is most commonly used in the stock market.

According to a person briefed on the investigation, what they concluded, in part, was that the world's biggest hedge fund used a complicated sequence of financial machinations — including relatively hard-to-track trading instruments — to make otherwise straightforward-seeming investments.

With respect to establishing a U.S. hedge fund, average hedge fund startup costs range from $50,000 to $100,000, and first- year operational costs usually total $75,000 to $150,000.

Hedge funds are able to purchase distressed debt (usually in the form of bonds) at a very low percentage of par value. If the once-distressed company emerges from bankruptcy as a viable firm, the hedge fund can sell the company's bonds for a considerably higher price.

Hedge funds typically charge an annual asset management fee of 1 percent to 2 percent of assets as well as a “performance fee” of 20 percent of a hedge fund's profit. These fees are typically higher than the fees charged by a mutual fund.

The 20% performance fee is the biggest source of income for hedge funds. The performance fee is only charged when the fund's profits exceed a prior agreed-upon level. A common threshold level used is 8%. That means that the hedge fund only charges the 20% performance fee if profits for the year surpass the 8% level.

How do hedge fund managers become billionaires? ›

They pay managers handsomely.

So if the fund manages $1 billion and it generates a 25% return ($250 million), the manager is paid 2% of $1 billion ($20 million), plus 20% of the returns exceeding a 5% hurdle, or $40 million. This is how successful managers of big hedge funds become billionaires.