Athletes aspire to a national championship or an Olympic gold medal, scientists aspire to a Nobel Prize, journalists aspire to a Pulitzer… these fields have a clear way to recognize those at the pinnacle. But what do CTAs have? In the absence of a similar prize, we can only look to the example set by others. In this case, the winner in the world of managed futures is fairly clear. Via Efinancial News:

Winton’s profits jump followed a dramatic rise in assets under management during the calendar year, from $17bn to $28bn, an increase of 65%. The firm said this reflected “both net investor subscriptions and positive performance of Winton’s trading strategies”…

The continued increase in assets meant that at the end of 2011 Winton overtook Man Group’s AHL – which [David] Harding co-founded in 1987 before setting up Winton a decade later – as the largest systematic manager in Europe.

The biggest CTA in the world and the second-biggest were both founded by one man – pretty astonishing. And what about Harding himself? He took home ₤87 million in 2011, or around $140 million. Not bad at all. So, for all the aspiring CTAs out there – now you know what you’re shooting for.