businessinsider.com – Leda Braga is the first woman ever to have made the cut to Institutional Investor’s annual list of richest hedge fund managers.
As the head of Geneva-based Systematica Investments, Braga earned about $60 million last year and snagged the 44th spot on the ranking published today.
That puts her on par with two New York-based managers, Scott Ferguson of Sachem Head Capital Management and Mark Kingdon of Kingdon Capital Management.
Systematica is a computer-driven firm spun out from BlueCrest Capital. Her BlueTrend Fund was up 6.4% this year through April 8, nearly doubling the 3.4% return that it had last year, according to Institutional Investor, which cited the HSBC hedge fund database.
Under Braga’s helm, Systematica’s assets have grown to $10.2 billion as of March 1. She manages more money than any other woman in the hedge fund industry.
If this kind of perfomance goes on, Braga may soon land herself a spot on the top 25 list.
The Brazilian-born portfolio manager, who holds a Ph.D. from Imperial College, worked on JPMorgan’s derivatives research team before going in to the hedge fund industry.
