The best hedge fund to work for is...
Our Ideal Employer 2025 report is out. We asked over 15,000 financial services professionals who their favourite employer in financial services was, and there was a broad consensus: JPMorgan. But not everyone voted for JPMorgan – and not everyone voted for a bank.
Like in previous years, some of the most ideal employers in financial services were hedge funds. And voters in our survey considered Citadel to be the Ideal Employer among hedge funds. The firm performed particularly well with respondents on the following statements that we asked:
- This company pays very well. (8% above the global average)
- This company has exceptional colleagues. (7% above the global average)
Citadel’s position as the Ideal Employer in hedge funds reflects its position in the industry. Analysis from LCH Investments that measured Citadel’s cumulative gains from inception through to the end of 2024, found that it is the most profitable hedge fund of all time, generating $83bn in profits.
Citadel received as many votes in our survey as the next two funds (Millennium and RenTech) combined. It has $69bn in assets under management and is highly efficient, employing just 3,200 people. Based in Miami, Florida but with key offices in New York and London, it added 200 people last year.
Citadel’s chief people officer, Sjoerd Gehring, said that the firm has “extraordinary colleagues who thrive on collaboration and continuous learning”, and are “united by a passion for ideas and a drive for excellence.”
Citadel doesn't disclose pay on a global basis, but it does file accounts in the UK. Across the firm's London subsidiaries in 2024, average pay ranged between $500k and $21m, depending on subsidiary. The latter figure is based on profits distributed by Citadel's members (UK legal jargon for partners in a partnership), most of whom are likely portfolio managers.
Ranking behind Citadel, Millennium is the perpetual bridesmaid in our survey. Izzy Englander’s fund also finished second last year, and placed fourth in 2023. Millennium employs twice as many people as Citadel across its 18 global offices, and it has more assets under management too - $79bn in total. Millennium ranked highly for perceptions of its workforce and compensation.
Renaissance Technologies (RenTech) took third place in our rankings. The fund also won our compensation category. Aside from pay, it ranked highly for innovation and the quality of its workforce. RenTech’s flagship fund, the Medallion fund, which is open only to employees, is alleged* to have generated unverified “trading gains of more than $100 billion.” Respondents to our survey called RenTech “A place of integrity and high value performance,” as well as a “source of innovation”.
*The Man Who Solved the Market”, by Gregory Zuckerman
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