Peter Davies and Stuart Roden, former stars at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, have trounced rivals with a net return of 27% for their $2bn (E1.5bn) hedge fund last year. The performance puts them among the best-performing and best-paid fund managers in London.

Their equity long/short hedge fund, part of Lansdowne Capital, is understood to charge an annual fee of 1.5% plus a performance fee of 20%. This would imply an income of $140m for Lansdowne, of which Davies and Roden will take home a substantial slice. Average hedge fund returns last year were 9%.