Hedge funds lagged the stock market last year, yet managers of even the poorest performing funds took home handsome pay packages, according to the New York Times. Case in point: the head of D.E. Shaw saw a 2010 payday of $275 million, even though his firm's biggest fund returned a lousy 2.45%.
The Times quotes one hedge fund investor: "So many of these guys are killing it on the management fees. You can't feel good giving 30% of your returns to some guy who was up single digits. That has to give you indigestion."
Other News:
Subprime mortgages are back in fashion with long-term investors. [WSJ]
Generations X and Y find it hard to connect with advisers. [Investment News]
A joint venture between Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Morgan Stanley is expected to report a loss of $956 million bond trading. [WSJ]
Lazard says the market can support a lending facility of up to $50 billion for high investment-grade corporate buyers. [Reuters]
Nasdaq OMX and ICE made a hostile play for NYSE Euronext to out bid Deutsche Boerse by 19%. [Dealbook]
RBS expects to triple its private banking assets to $3 billion in India over the next four to five years. [Bloomberg]
BlackRock hired former Blackstone executive Edwin Conway to head its $1.1 trillion U.S. and Canadian institutional businesses. [Investment News]
Blackstone was the winner in the highly competitive sale of the $116 million leasehold for Manhattan's 1140 Sixth Avenue building. [The Real Deal]
Foreign banks tapped the Fed's secret lifeline the most at the crisis peak; Wachovia topped U.S. banks. [BusinessWeek]