East Setauket hedge fund Renaissance is second in the U.S.

The East Setauket-based hedge fund Renaissance Technologies ranked second in the U.S. based on the amount of money invested as of Dec. 31, 2009, according to a hedge fund news Web site.

The site, HedgeTracker, this week released its list of the largest U.S. equity hedge fund managers for 2009.

The top manager was David Shaw’s D.E. Shaw & Co., which held $540 million more than second-place Renaissance Technologies.

Renaissance Technologies, which makes decisions based mostly on mathematical analysis, had $26.15 billion in assets under management.

D.E. Shaw & Co., of New York, managed $26.7 million in its U.S. Equity Assets as of Dec. 31, according to SEC filings.

Among the major fourth-quarter 2009 buys for Renaissance Technologies were Apple Inc., Ford Motor Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Priceline.com.