Profits at the hedge fund co-founded by the GB News and Spectator owner Sir Paul Marshall plunged by almost two-thirds last year, resulting in significantly reduced payouts for its partners.

Marshall Wace, one of London’s most successful hedge funds, has declared profits of £192m in the year to the end of February 2024, a sharp fall of 64% compared with the £538m the previous year.

Marshall Wace was founded in 1997 by Marshall and Ian Wace and manages more than $71bn (£57.2bn) in funds, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Last year, Marshall sealed a £100m takeover of the Spectator magazine, adding to a media empire that includes backing the often controversial GB News TV channel and the UnHerd website.

Total turnover at Marshall Wace dropped from £1.2bn in 2023 to £768m last year, according to accounts filed this week at Companies House.

The latest accounts show that management fees and other income fell from £637m to £605m.

The company’s profits will be shared between its 24 partners, including Marshall and Wace. The biggest hit to those earnings came from an almost 75% drop in performance fees for the year, from £598m in 2023 to £163m last year.

As well as the partners, Marshall Wace Asset Management is listed as a member. An equal share of the earnings would equate to £8m for each member – down from £22m each a year earlier – if the services company is included. In reality, the earnings of senior members among the group are likely to be significantly higher.

Marshall Wace’s Eureka fund made a return of 14% last year, according to Reuters.

The US hedge fund Citadel, run by the billionaire Ken Griffin, who last year considered joining a group of investors led by Marshall exploring a bid to buy the Telegraph, gained 15.1% as the US stock market performed strongly.

The rival Millennium Management, run by Izzy Englander, made a return of 15%.

Citadel and Millennium, which have $66bn and $72.1bn in assets under management respectively, outperformed the wider hedge fund industry.

In 2016, Marshall, a former lead non-executive board member at the Department for Education, received a knighthood for services to education and philanthropy.

Marshall was a prominent donor to the campaign to leave the EU, while Wace donated to the campaign to remain.