(by Nick Band)

The compensation of loan investors goes higher within the hedge funds coming to the loan market.

"Fund managers that are handling riskier investments are paid better," stated Melissa De Vries, manager of institutional marketing with Greenwich. Really, loan specialists saw the rise of hedge funds and made their profits out of it. The investors that prefer to operate within more risks, see better results, though the whole industry rose in 2003 after being flat the previous year. Total compensation for leveraged loan portfolio managers lifted from $585,000 in 2002 to $691,000 in 2003, analysts say.

In 2003, the compensation for loan pros at hedge funds went up to $778,000 as compared with the figure of $652,000 in 2002. The trading volume boosted for all fixed-income markets but for distressed debt having 30% decline. Leveraged loan trading volume jumped 15%.

Thus, it is easy to conclude, that loan investors’ income is one highest in the fixed-income market.