The billion dollar a year club seems to be growing in the hedge fund industry. James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies, made $1.7 billion in 2006, which by one measure is tops in the industry. Kenneth Griffin and Edward Lampert each made $1.4 billion. And in a return to yesteryear, George Soros is once again near the top. He made about $1 billion. We've commented before on the historic nature of the boom in alternative investments. It's lucrative work, and it's drawing the brightest minds. Of course it can all end sourly, but the big pensions have a huge appetite still. So it's going to keep going. But a fund can be really good one year and really bad the next, so the club may keep changing.

For more:
- here's the New York Times article