Ken Griffin advised investors navigating last month’s markets to “tread water and not drown.”
The legions of portfolio managers that work for his $65 billion firm managed better than that.
Griffin’s flagship fund at $65 billion Citadel, Wellington, was up 1.3% last month to bring its 2025 returns to 0.5%, a person close to the Miami-based firm said. The Wall Street Journal reported the fund’s returns earlier.
The manager’s other funds, which focus on specific asset classes, also were up last month, the person said, led by the manager’s equities strategy, which made 2.2% in April. That strategy is now up 0.5% for the year.
Meanwhile, the firm’s global fixed income fund has generated returns of 4.6% through April after a 1.2% gain last month, the person said. The firm’s tactical trading fund, which combines the firm’s fundamental equity and quant strategies, is up 3.2% in 2025 after a 1.9% gain in April.
The strong performance was a reversal from March and February, when the firm uncharacteristically lost money in back-to-back months.
Still, last month was another rocky one in markets, as Griffin’s comments at a Semafor conference in Washington, DC, made clear. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, revealed early in April on “Liberation Day,” upended global trade.
The administration has paused some of the tariffs, and stocks rebounded, though the S&P 500 still finished the month down 0.8%. For the year, the index is down more than 5%, shedding trillions in value.
Multistrategy funds, known for their ability to generate returns in all market environments, have largely handled the volatility well, though some of the biggest names in the sector have trailed smaller rivals so far this year.
Firms mentioned declined to comment. The table will be updated as more performance figures are learned.
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