A very good year for some Connecticut hedge fund managers

Here is a nugget likely to pop up on both sides of the tax equity debate in Connecticut: Two of the five richest hedge fund managers in 2010, as measured by AR Magazine, live in Connecticut.

Ray Dalio, who dabbled in politics in 2008 by hosting Republican presidential nominee John McCain at his company, Bridgewater Associates, made $3.1 billion. Steve Cohen of the Stamford-based SAC Capital Advisers made $1.3 billion. Another top performer outside the richest five is Eddie Lampert of Greenwich.

Dalio’s Bridgewater, by the way, is the largest U.S. hedge fund.

These are the guys Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to keep in Connecticut.

But wait, where does the rest of the top five live?

In two other high tax states, New York and New Jersey.

John Paulson of Paulson & Co. topped the list with earnings of $4.9 billion. His company hit the big time in 2007, successfully betting on the collapse of the housing market. Paulson lives on the Upper East Side of New York.