Alan Howard

It was a mediocre year in the markets for Alan Howard, whose flagship Master Fund returned just 2.59% net of fees in 2013. A former Credit Suisse trader, he launched Brevan Howard Asset Management in 2002 with four of his CS colleagues. They sold a 15% stake to Swiss Re in 2007. Based in Geneva, Brevan Howard now manages $45 billion in assets, making it Europe's largest hedge fund. In early 2014, it announced it will close down its $2 billion Emerging Market Strategies Fund, which lost nearly 15% last year. Master of Science, Imperial College London