He said some of the largest were Pequot Capital of Westport, Bridgewater Associates in Westport, and the Tudor Investment Corporation in Greenwich.

Among companies attending will be Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, Euclid Partners, GeoCapital Partner, Pequot Capital and Redstone 7.com.

Mr. Bacon runs Moore Capital Advisors, a private asset management firm that is thought to be the world's second- largest hedge fund behind Pequot Capital of Westport, Conn.

The new giants - Bowman in Silicon Valley, Pequot Capital in Westport, Conn., Galleon in New York - run private funds that specialize mainly in technology.

The world's largest hedge fund group, Pequot Capital of Westport, Conn., is believed to have about $15 billion in assets, though its top partners are in the process of splitting the firm.

Mr. Mack has said that he is happy at his current job as chairman of Pequot Capital, a hedge fund.

A year later, he joined Pequot Capital but remained there only a few weeks before he was rehired by Morgan Stanley.

Prior to establishing Pequot Capital in 1999, Samberg served as President of Dawson-Samberg Capital Management, where he established the first Pequot investment fund in 1986.

Mrs. Surber, 25, is an associate on the stock trading desk at Pequot Capital, an investment management firm in Westport, Conn.

King of the Mountain In November, when Pequot Capital held its annual meeting, an investor asked whether it had become too big.