Staff at hedge funds suffered a 16% cut in their total pay in 2009, including bonuses, as the industry registered its worst year on record and most funds stopped earning the performance fees that had previously fuelled big paydays in the sector.

The average total pay cheque in the industry fell from $940,000 (€692,000) in 2007, to $794,000 last year, according to a survey by trade publication Alpha magazine, which polled more than 800 industry practitioners at about 550 firms.