Marshall Wace, the hedge fund firm founded by GB News co-owner Paul Marshall, has seen a steep decline in profits, with newly filed accounts revealing a 64% drop in the year ending February 2024, from £538m to £192m, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph.

The downturn was driven by lower turnover, which slid to £769m from £1.2bn the previous year, with the performance of Marshall Wace’s two flagship funds, Eureka and TOPS, significantly underperforming their benchmarks during the period, contributing to the poor financial results.

In the 2023 financial year, the Eureka fund delivered a modest 4.6% return, while TOPS rose by 7.7%. These figures fell short of the double-digit returns typically expected from top-performing hedge funds. As a result, the firm’s performance fees plunged by 75%, from nearly £600m to £163m, according to the accounts.