Why Money Managers Are Paid So Much Is a Mystery

Why do workers in the financial industry get paid so much? There are many possible explanations, none of them completely satisfying. The financial industry commands a much larger share of the U.S. economy than in the past, causing some to worry that the industry gets more money than its economic contributions merit. The question is also important to workers thinking of going into finance, but for a different reason: Everyone wants to know how to get the big bucks.

The really big bucks, of course, go to people who start successful fund companies -- titans such as Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates or Ken Griffin of Citadel LLC. But well below those lofty heights, there are many thousands of people making a comfortable living doing things like managing mutual funds.