Largest Hedge Fund Political Donations Go to Democrats

April 20, 2010— -- While hedge fund managers might be presumed to be eager to help the GOP beat back Wall Street reform, the reality is that the biggest of the big-time spenders funneled their donations primarily to Democrats, the party that holds Congress and the White House.

According to an analysis done by the Center for Responsive Politics for ABC News, the five biggest hedge fund donors all gave almost all their donations to Democrats.

The most any individual can contribute in aggregate to candidates, party committees and PACs, in any one election cycle, is $115,500. For some hedge fund managers, that would barely amount to what they make per hour. Hedge funds make money for big investors by trading a wide range of securities, often using leverage and selling short -- betting that a stock, bond or even a mortgage security will fall in value.

So which hedge fund managers are making the most political contributions, and to whom are they giving?

The CRP ran some numbers to help ABCNews.com find out. Curiously, George Soros, among the highest-earning managers of 2009 and a well-known Obama supporter, did not make the Top 10 list.

Here's a rundown of who did make the list:

*With $94,100 in contributions over the past year, Jim Simons is the single largest political donor among hedge fund managers. The founder of quantitative hedge fund powerhouse Renaissance Technologies gave almost all of that total to Democrats, including Senators Harry Reid of Nevada, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and New York's Charles Schumer. Dodd is in charge of the committee working on a financial reform bill.

*Former Goldman Sachs star trader Eric Mindich, who a few years ago pulled off one of the largest hedge funds startups in history, doled out $89,600, all to Democrats, including Reid, Dodd and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.