Average pay at hedge fund Marshall Wace rose to £413k despite abysmal year
If you’re going to work at a hedge fund, there are two things you need to know. The first is that your job security is finnicky, and the second is that you may earn a ton of money, even if the fund itself isn’t doing so well.
Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.
That is what happened to the employees of London-based fund Marshall Wace. The fund disclosed accounts for its year ending March 2024, and the top line figures were very, very poor. Revenue fell from £1.2bn to £769m, nearly 40% down. The fall was primarily due to a 73% collapse in performance fees. Marshall Wace had a bad year.
Despite that, pay for its employees was up. The 350 employees of Marshall Wace Asset Management Limited received an average of £413k ($533k) each, a 12% increase on the £370k ($478k) they each received in 2023.
That was despite a 16% increase in headcount over the period – from 301 to 350 people. Most of the increase was in “office and administration” people, who went from 200 in number to 241, while employees involved in “fund management” grew by just 8%.
Marshall Wace founder Paul Marshall is known for his (begrudging) generosity. He complained back in 2023 about the competitive nature of the hedge fund hiring market, which had led to some portfolio managers “getting paid the same as Cristiano Ronaldo”.
Given that Ronaldo was paid €200m (£166m) for his appearances at Al-Nassr that year, you might think that Marshall is exaggerating. He’s not; Marshall Wace LLP paid one of its 24 members (UK legal jargon for partners in a legal partnership) £74m “in relation to profits earned”. Still below Ronaldo, but in 2023 it paid a member £266m (€319m). So, 1-1 so far.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated 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. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
