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Hedge Fund managers are one of the most fancied names on the Wallstreet, and many stock market participants closely track each and every move these fund managers make.
Many hedge fund managers make it to the rich list, thanks to the huge amount of money that they manage and the lucrative fee structure.
One of those fortunate people is Ray Dalio, who gained significant investment knowledge while caddying for wealthy individuals who were active investors on Wall Street.
How did Mr Dalio’s early days look like?
Mr Dalio was born on 1 August 1949 in Queens, New York City. His mother was a housekeeper, and his father was a saxophone player who used to perform in famous Manhattan clubs.
In 1957, Mr Dalio moved to Long Island together with his family when he was eight years old. In his primary and high school days, Mr Dalio was not particularly fond of school but loved spending time with his schoolmates.
To earn his pocket money, Mr Dalio used to mow the neighbour’s lawn, shovel snow for drivers, and do other physical chores. At the age of 12, Mr Dalio landed a position as a golf caddie, where he gathered his vast knowledge for profitable stocks.
Golf is a popular sport among the well-off classes, and Mr Dalio could not find a better spot for free investing advice. During his shifts, he would overhear conversations about the stock market and realised how interesting it was for him.
After some time, Mr Dalio managed to save US$300 from the caddie business and decided to invest in a booming stock market during the 1960s. The only significant firm whose stocks he could afford were of Northeast Airlines.
Shortly afterwards, the company had a successful merger, so Mr Dalio’s investment tripled in value – that was the moment when he got utterly addicted to investing.
Interestingly enough, some of his high-profile customers at the golf field were King Edward III of England and Richard Nixon (who later became the US president), among others.
Image Source: Shutterstock
How did Mr Dalio’s investment strategy progress?
Just like many other promising investors, Mr Dalio started reading annual reports for firms that he was interested in. Even after careful consideration of significant events throughout the year, Mr Dalio realised that he could still make mistakes.
Most of Mr Dalio’s knowledge, however, came from the smartest investors with whom he worked closely. They would advise him on the stocks’ approach and point out the mistakes in his investing strategy.
All those key elements contributed to the significant potential that Mr Dalio had even in high school, establishing a diversified portfolio worth a few thousand dollars. Even though this amount may sound insignificant in 2020, having that much money as a teenager in the 60s was a huge success.
What is Mr Dalio’s most remarkable accomplishment?
During his Harvard days, Mr Dalio started a trading company with his fellow campus friends under the name Bridgewater Associates. However, the business could not survive for a long time, and the group was forced to stop operating.
But in 1975, Mr Dalio decided to launch his own small company, retaining the same name of Bridgewater Associates. He quit his previous job at Shearson Hayden Stone and started work as a financial advisor from his two-bedroom apartment in New York. The rest is history.
Today, Bridgewater Associates is considered to be the largest hedge fund in the whole world, which operates with asset under management of ~US$140 billion.
DO READ: Global Hedge Fund Assets Running At All-time High
What is Mr Dalio’s net worth?
Forbes has estimated Mr Dalio’s net worth at US$16.9 billion, as of 08 December 2020.
However, Mr Dalio gifted US$850 million to philanthropic causes, earning him a philanthropy score three on Forbes’s billionaire list.
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