- Marshall Wace was co-founded by GB News backer Sir Paul Marshall
Hedge fund Marshall Wace has reported plunging profits again following a massive drop in performance fees.
The investment firm, co-founded by GB News backer Sir Paul Marshall, revealed its pre-tax profits plummeted by 64 per cent to £192million in the year ending February 2024.
Revenue fell by 38 per cent to £768.9million, mainly due to performance fees, which investment managers gain for generating returns, slumping by about £435million to just £163million.
Its Eureka and TOPS funds returned 4.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, which is significantly below the double-digit levels hedge funds usually achieve.
This is the second year in a row Marshall Wace’s earnings have dropped significantly after pre-tax profits slid by over a quarter to £539million in the 2023 financial year.
The group’s latest profits will be divided between its 24 partners, including Marshall and co-founder Ian Wace, with one unnamed member receiving a £74million payout.
Results: Hedge fund Marshall Wace has reported plunging profits again following a massive drop in performance fees
Marshall and Wace started their eponymous company in 1997, partly with backing from prominent Hungarian-born financier George Soros.
It has now grown into one of the UK’s largest hedge funds with over $69billion in assets, more than 700 employees and offices in major cities like London, New York and Abu Dhabi.
Expansion has been spearheaded by developing a computer-driven trading strategy that analyses stock recommendations from analysts and private equity giant KKR building a 35 per cent stake in the business.
Sir Paul, 65, whose son is former Mumford & Sons banjo player Winston, is chairman and chief investment officer of Marshall & Wace.
He has used his financial success from the company to become one of Britain’s most generous philanthropists.
The tycoon founded school academy provider ARK and has donated tens of millions to the London School of Economics, which houses the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship.
Marshall is also building a media empire, backing news and opinion website UnHerd and television channel GB News.
He acquired The Spectator Magazine last year for £100million after an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to snap up the right-leaning publication along with the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph failed.
Previously a Liberal Democrat supporter, Marshall later switched his affiliation to the Conservative Party and supported Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum.
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