The 10 Largest Hedge Funds in America

10. Farallon Capital Management
> Assets under management: $19.2 billion
> Year founded: 1986
> Location: San Francisco

Farallon is the sole member of the top 10 U.S. hedge funds not on the East Coast. The fund group was founded in 1986 by Thomas Steyer, and it claims roughly 165 employees located throughout six offices around the globe. Its investing strategies include investments in public and private debt and equity securities. It also makes direct investments in private companies, merger arbitrage and real estate. The company’s top holdings were in El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP), Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR) and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI), with stakes of around $400 million each. The firm’s full holdings are here.

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9. Elliott Management Corporation
> Assets under management: $19.2 billion
> Year founded: 1977
> Location: New York

Elliott Management was founded by Paul Singer, who recent called for new global leadership in a DealBook report. The firm has been a Lehman creditor and often is mentioned as a creditor in articles about credit default swaps regarding Greece, voting to have lists published. Full holdings are here, including a stake worth over $500 million in Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH).

8. Renaissance Technologies
> Assets under management: $20.0 billion
> Year founded: 1982
> Location: East Setauket, N.Y.

Renaissance was listed in the Absolute Return report with more assets than the fund itself claims, but that is said to include the Medallion fund. The hedge fund outfit employs 275 people and sticks to mathematical and statistical methods. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been one of its huge performers. Its stake in the company was over $500 million at the end of 2011 — about five times as large as its other top holdings. Other top holdings were Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) and McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD). Full holdings here.

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7. Angelo, Gordon & Co.
> Assets under management: $21.2 billion
> Year founded: 1988
> Location: New York

Angelo, Gordon was founded in 1988 and claims more than 230 employees with its affiliates. The hedge fund seeks to generate absolute returns. The strategy is said to be have low volatility, exploiting inefficiencies in selected markets and capitalizing on situations that are not in the mainstream of investment opportunities. The strategies highlighted the most by the firm are fixed-income assets, followed by real estate, private equity and multistrategy.

6. Paulson & Co.
> Assets under management: $22.6 billion
> Year founded: 1994
> Location: New York

Paulson & Co. was founded by John Paulson in 1994. The hedge fund manages domestic and offshore merger arbitrage/event-driven funds for institutional and high net-worth clients across multiple hedge funds under the “Advantage” name. Last year was not a good year, but Paulson was a winner of the recession and that has allowed his funds to maintain clients. Paulson often takes large stakes. He was one of the largest holders of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) and has a large position in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD). Paulson’s full holdings are here.