Jim Simons has just officially announced his retirement as from the beginning of 2010. He will therefore resign as head of "Renaissance Technologies" the company that he founded more than twenty years ago which has assets valued by the financial community at more than 20 billion dollars and which today controls several quantative "hedge funds" the most famous of which is the "Medallion Fund"
Until today, this fund is undoubtedly one of the best performers in the history of management. Over a 20 year period, it registered annual returns of more than 30% net in management fees for its investors, even enjoying the luxury of surmounting the difficulties of the real financial crisis, unlike some of its competitors. As sure proof of the confidence in the long term sustainability of this exceptional performance, investment in "Medallion" is now reserved exclusively for Jim Simons and his co-workers (employees)
Jim Simons has come a long way since the founding, in 1982, of "Renaissance Technologies". After his debut in the professional world as a mathematician and university professor at MIT, then Harvard, there was nothing that could have pre-destined him for the world of finance. But this ex code-breaker for the United States Military of Defense, wanted, no doubt, to prove that his scientific expertise could be equally well applied to the turmoil of the financial markets. It was towards the end of the 70s that he decided to leave academia and put his scientific knowledge to use to the delight of his investors.
Jim Simons wanted to reassure his investors by announcing that his two co-successors would be Peter Brown and Robert Mercer, who have both been working at his side for 20 years. He also announced that he would remain as a member of the Board of "Renaissance Technologies" as well as its majority shareholder.
