Hedge fund AQR raised pay in London and lost 14% of people
Quantitative hedge fund AQR didn’t have the best 2023. Its people might have had a better one, however. Those who survived, at least.
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The firm released 2023 accounts for its main UK subsidiary, AQR Capital Management (UK Services) Limited, earlier this week. Turnover fell by 5%, from £17.7m to £16.9m, while profits fell by 21%, from £1.65m to £1.30m.
People appeared to leave in the process. AQR Capital Management (UK Services) Limited employed 35 people at the end of 2022 – by the end of 2023, that was down to 30. For comparison, in 2019, it had 51 employees.
Still, it could be worse: AQR Capital Management (UK Services) Limited's wage bill barely budged, going from £11.4m to £11.2m. With headcount down, the average pay per employee was up rather substantially, from £325k ($431k) in 2022 to £374k ($495k) in 2023: a 15% increase.
For what it’s worth, hiking pay while cutting heads is pretty standard for AQR in London. It did the same thing in 2022 as well as in 2021. At current rates, we anticipate that in around 2030, only one person will be working for AQR in London – but they will be incredibly well-paid. With the firm’s main strategies returning between 13% and 17% in the first half of the year, the process might even accelerate.
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