Hedge Funds

The Kansas City Star reported this past week the "20 highest-earning managers of private equity firms and hedge funds had an average income of $675.5 million last year."(about 20X the average annual income of the leaders of publicly traded companies). The story went on to compare that with the average American worker who would, on average, earn 1/22,255th that amount. Quoting from a report of the Insitute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, the article in the Star noted the disparity as a significant concern. "Recognizing that leadership deserves financial reward, the report focused more on the 'How much is enough?' question and the social responsibility of the income leaders." The report stated, "Private equity managers, to extract such massive personal rewards out of the companies that sit in their portfolios, typically make decisions--on matters ranging from job cuts to pensions--that place steady downward pressure on the U.S. working standards." The Star noted despite the tremendous income the private equity and hedge fund managers receive, because of the peculiarities of the tax law, they pay taxes at the 15% capital gains rate instead of the 35% ordinary income rate.

To put this in some perspective, these top 20 equity/hedge managers would, on average, reach the maximum income taxed for Social Security purposes in the first 30 minutes of their first day at work at the beginning of the year.

My question:
What kind of hedge fund would Jesus run(WKOHFWJR bracelet)?