(I wasn't working there in 2004) Management fee were paid so the firm managed to pay its bills and continue to trade. If this was a "prop money" scenario, most likely the psychological impact would have let the team take the wrong decisions and the trading capital would have been reduced to pay the bills, which is probably the worst thing to do in a drawdown. But the real money is made from performance fee so the management / performance fee system works quite well in my opinion (might be biased).
And how much would you make in a down year like that if you traded your own money? Would you agree to trade OPM without receiving management fees?
Well a down year with your own money means you dont make anything ? Everyone charge a management fee but where it used to be 2 and 20, its now more often 1 and 20 or 0/30 .... and 0.5 /10 or 0.25 / 15 for newcomers I personally would agree to trade other peoples money for an incentive fee only, but when you deal with a fully structured hedge fund there are costs that they cant avoid such as office, regulatory cost, backoffice etc. Also as a client you want more than just return, you also want support and be able to talk to a member of management on the phone at any time.... have a member of management present face to face to discuss the results of the fund etc etc. Youre better off paying 0.5 of management fee or 1percent for every 10-15pts of vol. And have that support guaranteed, versus a 0/x% with some guy in a garage who may not return your calls if he doesnt feel like it (happened to me as i invest my bonus with a few external funds / CTAs)
for investors who wants no management fee and guaranteed returns every year; there is a fund for you: Bernie Madoff.
At this moment he is taking a sabbatical year, but as he was very successful and delivered exceptional performances he did not take 1 year but 150. Mazzeltov !
"Everyone charge a mgt fee but its now 0/30. O/30 is no mgt fee. Most new funds are 0/5. Fees plunged several years ago for all but the superstars.
Sounds like your city/country has a very competitive Hedge Fund industry. Your in London? Is there a public directory of these funds with details? There are small CTA's in Chicago, such as White River Group, ranked by Autumn Gold still offering 2/25. You guys should move here. I believe the fee structure is still common.