How much do hedge fund jobs really pay?

Hedge funds are home to some of the highest paid people in finance. Elite portfolio managers (PMs) can make tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Very few people actually make that much, but even if you temper your expectations you can still make a lot of money.

💥Follow us on WhatsApp for news alerts.💥

Our Compensation & Lifestyle Report 2026 surveyed almost 3,000 professionals worldwide in financial services on their pay last year, including those who worked in hedge funds, based in global centres including London, New York, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Pay for the professionals who worked in the hedge fund industry was much better than in other areas of financial services. 

We asked respondents to classify their seniority in banking terms (analyst to MD). Junior hedge fund staff (analyst and associate level) earned $227k in total compensation, senior staff (VPs and directors) earned more than three times that amount on average while MD-level hedge fund employees earned $2.2m on average. 

Despite the steep growth of total compensation, salaries rarely rise above $300k; these firms are intensely performance driven and bonuses are often tied to your performance, or the PnL of your team. 

Don't expect those bonuses all in one lump sum; many hedge funds defer portions of your bonus, meaning that you either need to keep working at the fund until it vests, or you need to convince your new employer to buy those bonuses out. Otherwise, you lose them forever. The advantage of this is that, depending on where you work, these funds can be reinvested in the fund and can grow significantly over that period.

What are the highest paying hedge fund jobs?

PMs naturally make the most money in hedge funds but there's huge variation in pay between PMs, determined by your profitability, your pre-existing deferred bonuses and the size of the portfolio you manage. One of the most famous PM hires in recent memory is Stephen Schurr, whom Millennium allegedly paid up to $100m to hire. Schurr was previously at Balyasny, and reportedly made $400m in profit for the fund over a two-year period before joining Millennium. Other PMs managing similarly sized strategies (which usually involves managing over $200m in assets) have been offered packages of $50m. Ex-Balyasny analyst Jared Kubin said in May that PMs generally earn 12-25% of their profits, but there's room for negotiation and that smaller funds offer more attractive ratios to tempt in top PMs.

There are many portfolio managers across major hedge funds that are running significantly smaller strategies than the likes of Schurr. Often, these PMs are homegrown graduate hires. A senior equities PM told us in 2024 that "the industry is full of kids aged 25-35 who are used to operating within $30m sleeves." There are also strict requirements for how much of a drawdown (loss) you can have in a given period before your capital is reallocated or you're fired; this can limit opportunities for massively profitable strategies among younger PMs by preventing them from making riskier long-term bets. Even if they are able to make profits of 10%, a $30m AUM portfolio means bonuses are unlikely to exceed $500k.

If you work in a support role at a 'pod shop' hedge fund, meaning a fund where separate, distinct teams run potentially competing strategies, your pay will be directly tied to the PnL of your portfolio manager. Unlike a PM, your bonus will be paid on a discretionary basis - in other words, whatever the PM believes you're worth. Kubin said "a senior analyst on a good pod clearing $1-3m in a normal year is realistic." Top quant researchers, meanwhile, can make $800k.

There are high paying hedge fund jobs outside of trading teams. Top technologists can earn $700k pay packages, while risk professionals can make up to $500k

Return to our guide to hedge fund jobs here.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: WhatsApp: http://wa.me/442079977910 (+44 20 7997 7910), Telegram: @AlexMcMurray, Signal: @AlexMcMurrayEFC.88 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: comments are moderated intermittently by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You must take sole responsibility for comments you post on this site. We will take reasonable steps to weed out anything that we consider to be offensive or inappropriate.