- Top hedge funds such as Citadel and Millennium lost money in February, people familiar said.
- Geopolitical tensions brought on by President Donald Trump led to rocky markets last month.
- Some multistrategy rivals, including Balyasny, ExodusPoint, and Verition, still made money.
Some of the biggest hedge funds could not escape unscathed from the volatility brought on by President Donald Trump’s administration in February.
Managers such as Ken Griffin’s Citadel and Izzy Englander’s Millennium lost money during the month, which was highlighted by constantly changing trade policy proposals from US leadership and shrinking consumer confidence.
The immediate effect of the geopolitical tensions and a potential trade war — a bigger worry for investors than inflation or the deficit, according to a new study from asset manager Amundi — has been a pullback on US equities.
Despite a jump in the last trading day of February, stocks were still broadly down last month. The S&P 500 was down 1.4% for February, bringing the index’s 2025 returns to 1.2% through the year’s first two months.
Still, several multi-strategy funds — which have raised billions in recent years because of their ability to handle volatility — had strong months. Balyasny, which has overhauled its equities team, was up roughly 0.9%, Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint returned 0.7%, and $12 billion Verition made 0.6% last month, people close to the firms told Business Insider.
London-based LMR Partners meanwhile was up 1%, a person close to the firm said, bringing its 2025 returns up to 1.8%. Cliff Asness’s $3 billion Apex strategy returned 2.8%, a person close to the Greenwich-based manager said.
More firms will be added as returns are learned. The managers below declined to comment or did not immediately return requests for comment.
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