James Simons, Renaissance Technologies, US$2.5b

He makes $1.7b amid credit crisis

THE current financial crisis may have dwindled the fortunes of many in Wall Street, but Mr George Soros is one among a handful who still made money - about US$1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) of it.

Mr Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, and was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse, was not even at the top of a list of those who made money in these doom times.

That honour went to former maths professor James H Simons,who has made billions in hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, and raked in US$2.5 billion running computer-driven trading strategies.

In an interview with The Australian, Mr Soros, 78, said he has 'been writing a lot more than I was writing before because the crisis really stimulated me'.

His prediction meant he was better able to brace his Quantum investment fund against the global storm.

Other investors failed to take notice of his prediction and his decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him a total of US$2.9 billion.

Mr Soros is one of 25 top hedge fund managers from across Wall Street who have defied the credit crunch crisis to reap a combined total US$11.6 billion last year.

How they made their profit

The managers made their profit by trading above the pain in the markets, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine.

Second on the list is Mr John A Paulson, who made his fortune by betting against the housing market, earningUS$ 2billion.

The managers made the profit in a year when losses were recorded at two of every three hedge funds and when hedge funds lost an average of 18 per cent, according to the New York Times.

Two of the three managers who tied for ninth place, at US$250 million, are based in Britain and include David Harding of Winton Capital and Alan Howard of Brevan Howard Asset Management.

Another Brevan Howard employee, Mr Christopher Rokos, also made the list.

The profit comes at a time when the US government is scrutinising Wall Street pay and when hedge funds are facing proposals for new taxes on their gains. Despite the global financial crisis, the combined pay of the top 25 hedge fund managers still managed to top every year before 2006.

Mr Paulson said his pay was high, partly because he is the largest investor in his fund and that he did not receive a bonus.

He said the pensions,endowments and other institutions which invest in his fund do not object to the profits he and his team make.

'In a year when all their other investments lost money, we're like an oasis,' he said in The Times. 'We have investors who were invested with Madoff, and they can't thank me enough.'

Alpha Magazine's 2008 Top Moneymakers:

1. James Simons, Renaissance Technologies, US$2.5b
2. John Paulson, Paulson & Co, US$2b
3. John Arnold, Centaurus Energy, US$1.5b
4. George Soros, Soros Fund Management, US$1.1b
5. Raymond Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, US$780m

This article was first published in The New Paper.