Bridgewater is turning to the crowd for ideas on how to trade and position itself in a new global economic regime.
The world’s largest hedge fund, known for its macro bets and its billionaire founder Ray Dalio, is hosting a competition with Australian nonprofit Global Citizen, which aims to end extreme poverty globally, titled “Forecasting the Future: A Modern Economics Challenge.”
The contest is open to anyone who wants “to tackle one of the most significant global economic transformations of our time,” according to a press release, and submit their analysis and forecast on what the protectionist policies of leaders around the world, led by tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, will do to the world economy.
Five winners will receive $25,000 and a chance at a job at the $92 billion hedge fund. The application opened on Tuesday.
“We are looking for the brightest minds across the world to contribute their understanding of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and to join us as we navigate the future of this new world order,” said Nir Bar Dea, the CEO of Bridgewater, which was founded in 1975 and calls itself a “a community of independent thinkers” in the release. The manager’s polarizing workplace culture, termed “radical transparency” by its founder, has also set the firm apart over the decades.
One hundred applications will be selected from the initial pool, and then senior leaders at Bridgewater will decide on the five winners from that group.
The release says the five winners will be offered a job or internship opportunity with Bridgewater “pending successful completion of its interview requirements.” A person close to the competition told Business Insider that the asset manager’s “standard interview requirements” still apply, without specifying what those were.
The role offered to the winners is dependent on where the firm believes they would fit best within the organization, but even an internship can be a lucrative opportunity. A job posting for a 2026 investment internship states that the eight-week gig would pay $51,000 plus a signing bonus.
Bridgewater is not the only hedge fund to source talent through a contest. Systematic trading shop WorldQuant has an annual championship where students and academics from around the world submit math models predicting market moves. Last year, the prize pool was $400,000. $25 billion hedge fund Balyasny runs a stock-picking contest that serves as an early application pool for the firm’s internship program.
The new economic world order
Bridgewater’s top investment leaders have been public about how radical the Trump administration’s economic policies have been and the substantial impact they will have on portfolios and institutions around the world. One of the firm’s co-chief investment officers, Greg Jensen, wrote at the end of 2024 that the “previous global consensus around free trade and limited government intervention is hanging by a thread.”
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The firm has dubbed the new economic world order “modern mercantilism,” a system the manager says relies more on state power than free trade.
Despite the world becoming less interconnected, the macro investment manager is still searching for international opportunities, especially in Asia. The firm’s other co-chief investment officer, Karen Karniol-Tambour, recommended investing in China at the Milken conference earlier this month.
The firm’s flagship fund, Pure Alpha, was up close to 9% through the first quarter of 2025, Reuters previously reported.
