Elena Ambrosiadou heads 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds

Elena Ambrosiadou, once described as the highest-paid and wealthiest woman in Britain, heads The Hedge Fund Journal's survey of ‘50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds’, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The survey shows how women are making an increasing contribution to the industry’s development and success, as is the case of Ambrosiadou with an estimated personal wealth of EUR 216 mln. As co-founder and CEO of Ikos, Elena also ranked as the third wealthiest person in Cyprus according to the latest edition of the Greek Rich List.
Traditionally, hedge fund businesses have been male dominated. Crunching the employment numbers (or a quick look at the FSA database of authorised individuals) shows the breakdown in gender is still heavily skewed in favour of men. But for women, the hedge fund industry does offer scope for optimism. Compared with other sectors in the financial services space, the hedge fund industry is more entrepreneurial. Its appetite for innovation and the relative youth of hedge fund employees means change is a constant. What’s more, compared with investment banks or traditional asset managers, hedge funds have flatter hierarchies and responsibilities are more diffuse, which potentially make it a more attractive environment for women.
“The 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds survey is by no means a definitive guide. However, the survey shows conclusively that there is a broad range of talented women in the hedge fund industry and plenty of opportunities for them to thrive,” said Bill McIntosh, Editor of The Hedge Fund Journal.
Ikos moved its marketing services to Limassol in 2005. With 70 employees and an asset base of €953 mln, it is listed among Europe’s 30 largest single manager hedge funds.
Elena Ambrosiadou was ranked among the most influential women in the City of London and named by The Business as one of its Thirty Top Women in the City list in 2006. In 2007 and 2008 she was listed amongst the FN 100 list of the most influential women in European finance.
In June 2007 Elena became the 5th recipient of the Cranfield School of Management Distinguished Alumnus Award. She has lectured on global markets and “Extracting Alpha” in New York and Paris, and has published a paper in 2009 on Hedge Fund Intelligence.