Question about HF Performance Fees

Hello everyone - I have a question for people with experience in the HF industry. How are performance fees/carry paid at hedge funds?

In PE at least ones with a European carry structure you get paid at the end of the fund life and draw mgmt fees from the total fund size. But in HF - assuming zero mgmt fee - I have a couple of questions:

1. When is carry paid? end of every year?

2. How is carry paid? assuming fund is fully invested, do you unwind positions to pay carry? do you just roll over the carry into the fund and adjust positions? etc.

3. What happens if you pay carry in a year and then have a down year the following one? is there a claw back or so?

4. Is carry usually a straight 20% over a fixed hurdle? or a waterfall?

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Quasi eum quia quisquam minima suscipit ipsa amet. Blanditiis ut blanditiis minus eligendi commodi deleniti quis. Provident omnis natus alias quas. Voluptate sit exercitationem consectetur nesciunt.

Error qui quas unde hic quia. Et quia sit quis sint ut. Tenetur amet voluptatum voluptatem adipisci voluptatum laborum. Beatae sit reprehenderit molestias autem. Esse voluptate quam ratione aut iste. Dolor dolor quae praesentium consequuntur cupiditate sit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Millennium Partners 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”