STANLEY FINK, who surprised the City yesterday by announcing his retirement aged 48, has helped to generate £7 billion for shareholders in his six years at the helm of Man Group.

The world’s biggest listed hedge fund manager, which was worth less than £1 billion when he took on the chief executive role in March 2000, is valued at £8.3 billion today.

A thousand pounds invested in Man Group shares at the time, with all dividends reinvested, is worth more than £6,000 today, making it one of the best performers in the FTSE 100.

Mr Fink, who was paid £6 million last year, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries, his personal shareholding rocketing in value to £111 million.

Man has skilfully ridden the hedge fund wave, with funds under management mushrooming from $4.7 billion to more than $54 billion (£29 billion), partly through strong investment returns but mostly by scooping in new business. Scarred by the bear market in equities between 2000 and 2003, investors have thronged to so-called absolute return assets such as hedge funds, which aim to produce positive returns regardless of the direction of share prices.

Man Group, with its strong performance track record and expertise in “black box” investment, has grown from a tiny sugar-trading firm into one of the City’s biggest firms.

The growth in demand for derivatives has also boosted Man’s other main division, a broking arm that trades futures, options and other equity derivatives, as well as metals, energy and currencies.

While relinquishing his chief executive duties from April 1, Mr Fink will become non-executive deputy chairman of Man and continue to chair the Strategic Investment Committee, the powerful grouping that approves outside hedge funds that Man invests in.

The elevation breaches corporate governance best practice, which rules that chief executives should make a clean break from the companies they run. Harvey McGrath, the chairman who was formerly chief executive, said that the company would explain in the annual report why it had chosen not to comply. He said he was confident that shareholders would approve.

Mr Fink said that his departure would give him more time to devote to his philanthropic activities. An operation on a brain tumour two years ago, from which he made a full recovery, may also have played a part in his career thinking.

His successor, Peter Clarke, — now finance director and deputy chief executive — will be the third executive to lead Man since it floated in 1994.

CHARITABLE AIMS

He is active in fundraising for Burlington Danes city academy school in Fulham, West London

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive