While the hedge-fund industry guards its secrets, it is widely known that it's a male-dominated field with few women at the top. But female finance pros with a knack for innovation and entrepreneurship take notice: The Hedge Fund Journal is spotlighting 50 women in hedge funds who are tearing it up.
Released in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the list includes business principals and senior portfolio managers in high-powered positions and who have been industry pioneers.
The list comes on the heels of a recent report that found women-owned hedge funds consistently reported stronger returns, and even performed better during the financial crisis, than funds owned by men. The finding was based on a study by Hedge Fund Research, which tracked the performance of women-owned funds from 2000 to 2009.
Women manage an estimated 3% slice of the $1.5 trillion invested in hedge funds, according to Hedge Fund Journal.
Below are three particularly noteworthy women, the rest of the list can be found here:
1. Leda Braga, principal and portfolio manager of BlueCrest Capital. This college lecturer turned JPMorgan quant analyst oversees $9.6 billion in assets, making her one of the world's top female portfolio managers. One fund she manages with firm co-founder and CEO Mike Platt gained 43% in 2008, making it one of the top-performing systemic funds.
2. Mina Gerowin, managing director of Paulson & Co. Gerowin heads an investing team from the London arm of the $33 billion hedge fund bearing the name of her former classmate at Harvard Business School -- John Paulson. Before joining Paulson seven years ago, she was an ibanker at Lazard Freres where she got her hands dirty in international M&A and LBOs.
3. Elena Ambrosiadou, founder and CEO of IKOS. IKOS opened in 1991 as one of the first independent hedge funds in Europe. It has grown into a global shop with offices in major financial hubs and an asset base of about $1.5 billion. With over two-and-a-half decades of hedge-fund and business management experience under her belt, Ambrosiadou is recognized as one of the industry pioneers in Europe.
Write to Yoree Koh