Och-Ziff cuts pay in the UK to just $790k a head

The UK arm of U.S. hedge fund giant Och-Ziff Asset Management has cut pay for its employees to an average of £520k ($788k), despite keeping profits stable and hiring more people.

Och-Ziff, which has $46.1bn in assets under management, posted a profit for 2014 of £14.5m, according to newly-released accounts on Companies House, compared to £14.9m the previous year.

Globally, Och Ziff has over 400 employees. By comparison, its UK operation is small but growing – Och-Ziff now has 75 people in the UK, compared to 66 employees the year before.

Collectively, it paid them £39m for the year ending 31st December 2014 - an average of £520k each. This was a significant slip on the previous year, when pay averaged out at £680k.

Still, Och-Ziff is a generous payer compared to some of its London rivals. Two Sigma, the systematic trading hedge fund which has its own internal recording studio, paid its employees an average of £275k.

Bluecrest Capital Management paid its UK employees an average of £244.1k, whereas Brevan Howard cut pay to an average of £180k. RBC-owned hedge fund BlueBay Asset Management shelled out £202.9k per head, according to recently filed accounts.

Och-Ziff’s highest paid director received £2.2m last year.