Bridgewater Associates

Bridgewater Associates, LP (informally known as "Bridgewater") is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. As of 2022, Bridgewater has posted the second highest gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1975. It utilizes a global macro investing style based on economic trends such as inflation, currency exchange rates, and U.S. gross domestic product. Bridgewater Associates began as an institutional investment advisory service, graduated to institutional investing, and pioneered the risk parity investment approach in 1996. In 1981, the company moved its headquarters from New York City to Westport, Connecticut, and currently employs 1,500 employees. History The firm's history includes the pioneering of industry strategies such as: currency overlay, the separation of alpha and beta strategies, the creation of absolute return products, and risk parity. According to Financial News, the company was the fastest growing asset manager from 2000 until 2005 when it stopped accepting new accounts. Its assets under management have increased by 25% each year during the 2001-2010 decade with employees at eleven times their year 2000 levels. The company's Daily Observations research is reportedly read by leaders of central banks and managers of pension funds around the world.