In a year where investors flocked from hedge funds, it's probably not a surprise that the biggest names in the business weren't quite as big as they were in the past.
Don't weep too much for the $3 trillion industry's magnates: there were still plenty of billions to go around.
But 2016 marked the worst year since 2005 for the 25 managers who made the most money, as ranked in the annual Rich List from Institutional Investor's Alpha.
Combined, the group made a paltry $9.4 billion, barely half what it pulled down three years ago and less even than the financial crisis low point in 2008, when they made $11.6 billion. Moreover, the $130 million needed to make the list was the lowest minimum since 2011.
The landscape was difficult last year, with the industry underperforming the market amid low volatility and dispersion. Hedge funds overall, as gauged by the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, returned just 5.5 percent compared with the 's total return of just below 12 percent.
Assets edged over $3 trillion for the first time, despite $70.1 billion in redemptions. Because of the positive returns, total capital increased $121 billion.
There were just two billion-dollar earners on the Rich List: James Simons, of Renaissance Technologies, who made $1.6 billion; and Ray Dalio, the Bridgewater Associates head who runs the biggest fund in the world and made $1.4 billion. Simons tied for first last year and is the only manager to make the list each of the 16 years.
For the list of all 25 managers on the Rich List, go here.
This is the top 10:
1. James Simons
2. Ray Dalio
3 (tie). John Overdeck, Two Sigma, $750 million.
3 (tie). David Siegel, Two Sigma, $750 million.
5. David Tepper, Appaloosa Management, $700 million.
6. Kenneth Griffin, Citadel, $600 million.
7. Paul Singer, Elliott Management, $590 million.
8. Michael Hintze, CQS, $450 million.
9. David Shaw, D.E. Shaw Group, $415 million.
10. Israel (Izzy) Englander, Millennium Management, $410 million.
