Wall Street's elite money managers are also some of the best-paid people in the financial realm. In 2011, the highest-paid hedge fund managers earned a combined amount of $14.4 billion, according to CNBC.
As large of an amount that is, it's actually lower than 2010, when they earned over $22 billion. These best-performing managers on average provided returns in the double digits, in contrast to data from the HedgeFund Intelligence Composite Index revealing an average of over 2% loss for all managers.
Here is a list of the top five for 2011:
Steven Cohen is head of SAC Capital Advisors and has $14 billion in assets under management. He returned 8% to investors after fees, and earned $585 million for himself.
Kenneth Griffin heads the firm Citadel and has $11 billion in assets under management. He provided a 20% return in 2011, finally surpassing the 55% loss they took in 2008. He earned $700 million last year.
James Simons runs Renaissance Technologies, which has $20 billion under management. The firm's equity fund returned about 34%, allowing Simons to make more than $2 billion last year.
Icahn Capital Management's Carl Icahn heads the management of $7 billion in assets, and provided a 34.5% gross return last year. This allowed him to personally take in $2.5 billion in income.
Raymond Dalio's fund, Bridgewater Associates, manages a total of $120 billion in assets, while the hedge fund unit manages $70 billion. Dalio was able to make $3.9 billion for himself last year.
Business section: Investing ideas
These managers have been wildly successful in their investments, but are average investors able to make some of the same picks? Here is a list of stocks seeing net buying from institutional investors (such as hedge fund managers) over the last quarter. These stocks also have positive market sentiment, rallying above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages. Do you think they will continue to see strong momentum?
List sorted by market cap. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)
1. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG): The company is the world's most popular search engine. It has a market cap of $211.67 billion. The stock is currently trading 2.11% above its 20-day simple moving average, 5.14% above its 50-day SMA, and 10.96% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 9.7 million shares, which represents about 3.77% of the company's float of 257.07 million shares.
2. salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM): Provides customer and collaboration relationship management services to various businesses and industries worldwide. It has a market cap of $21.69 billion. The stock is currently trading 2.43% above its 20-day SMA, 11.20% above its 50-day SMA, and 22.11% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 7.4 million shares, which represents about 5.9% of the company's float of 125.48 million shares.
3. ASML Holding: Engages in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and servicing semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. It has a market cap of $20.53 billion. The stock is currently trading 0.82% above its 20-day SMA, 4.51% above its 50-day SMA, and 21.50% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 17.8 million shares, which represents about 4.3% of the company's float of 413.53 million shares.
4. Mead Johnson Nutrition: Distributes, and sells infant formulas, children's nutritional products, and other nutritional products in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. It has a market cap of $16.84 billion. The stock is currently trading 0.62% above its 20-day SMA, 4.92% above its 50-day SMA, and 13.80% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 7.1 million shares, which represents about 3.49% of the company's float of 203.22 million shares.
5. Banco Santander-Chile: Provides commercial and retail banking services to corporate and individual customers in Chile. It has a market cap of $15.46 billion. The stock is currently trading 0.21% above its 20-day SMA, 3.74% above its 50-day SMA, and 5.73% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 7.4 million shares, which represents about 12.5% of the company's float of 59.19 million shares.
6. Cigna: Operates as a health service organization. It has a market cap of $13.91 billion. The stock is currently trading at 1.95% above its 20-day SMA, 6.26% above its 50-day SMA, and 7.33% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter are at 18.2 million shares, which represents about 6.37% of the company's float of 285.67 million shares.
7. Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao: Operates as a retailer of food products, clothing, home appliances, and other products through its chain of hypermarkets, supermarkets, specialized and department stores, convenience stores, and the Internet in Brazil. It has a market cap of $12.93 billion. The stock is currently trading 4.62% above its 20-day SMA, 7.23% above its 50-day SMA, and 23.57% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter stand at 9.1 million shares, which represents about 9.73% of the company's float of 93.55 million shares.
8. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: REGN): Develops and commercializes pharmaceutical products for the treatment of serious medical conditions in the United States. It has a market cap of $11.55 billion. The stock is currently trading 4.17% above its 20-day SMA, 12.22% above its 50-day SMA, and 70.67% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter stand at 3.6 million shares, which represents about 5.04% of the company's float of 71.44 million shares.
9. M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB): Operates as the holding company for M&T Bank and M&T Bank, National Association, which provide commercial and retail banking services to individuals, corporations, other businesses, and institutions. It has a market cap of $10.91 billion. The stock is currently trading 0.51% above its 20-day SMA, 4.29% above its 50-day SMA, and 11.98% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter stand at 4.2 million shares, which represents about 3.64% of the company's float of 115.37 millon shares.
10. LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD): Operates an online professional network. It has a market cap of $10.85 billion. The stock is currently trading 7.75% above its 20-day SMA, 16.68% above its 50-day SMA, and 27.48% above its 200-day SMA. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter stand at 21.8 million shares, which represents about 44.93% of the company's float of 48.52 million shares.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
