The hedge fund industry earned $127 billion in 2020, “with some of the biggest firms dominated by human traders racking up record profits.” This according to data from LCH Investments as reported in a recent Bloomberg article, which listed the top-performing hedge funds for the year.

Tiger Global Management topped the list, ousting “quant powerhouse” Renaissance Technologies, the article reports, adding, “another sign that trading conditions favored human stock-pickers over algorithms.”

“The ranking reflects the most-prominent theme of a tumultuous year,” the article notes, “with hedge funds making or losing huge sums of money as the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the globe and central banks unleashed unprecedented stimulus to contain the economic carnage.”

On the losing side, the article reports that Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates –the largest hedge fund–incurred $12.1 billion of losses.

According to LCH, the 20 firms in the list oversaw approximately 17% of global hedge fund assets and produced about 43% of the $1.4 trillion in profits the industry has generated since its inception.  LCH Chairman Rick Sopher commented, “In navigating the especially volatile markets of 2020, talented individual managers with vision and flexibility performed better than programmed machines.”