John Paulson is officially last year’s biggest loser.
Paulson’s hedge fund firm fell six places to 14th in Absolute Return’s Billion Dollar Club semi-annual ranking of the top hedge funds, being released today. The list includes funds in the US, Canada and Brazil.
As of Jan. 1, New York City-based Paulson & Co. had $17.66 billion under management — less than half the $36 billion it ran at its peak two years ago, when it ranked third.
The firm shed $4.8 billion last year, the greatest amount of any of the 269 funds surveyed. The loss came largely from redemptions, as the funds gained an average of 1 percent, according to an investor letter.
Most of Paulson’s $11.2 billion fortune — much of it made from his huge short bet on the housing crisis — is tied up in his hedge funds, diminishing the impact.
The performance of two of Paulson’s once-largest funds, Paulson Advantage and a leveraged version, Paulson Advantage Plus, fell by double digits for the second year, 14 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
But redemptions from those funds were even greater, with the overall loss at 40 percent.
Paulson investors even took money out of the funds that did well last year. His credit fund gained nine percent but assets declined by 54 percent, according to Absolute Return’s data.
Hedge fund assets in the three countries as a whole rose 9.3 percent last year to $1.46 trillion.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Big Apple-based D.E. Shaw continued its comeback, jumping back into the top 10, with $20.95 billion.