Despite equity markets tumbling in April, Ken Griffin’s teams of stockpickers helped lead his firm to a 2% return in its $61 billion flagship fund.
A person close to Griffin’s Citadel told Business Insider that Wellington’s year-to-date returns rose to 7.8% following April’s gains. The Miami-based manager’s equity performance was particularly strong, with the firm’s Tactical Trading fund — which includes fundamental long-short strategies as well as quant — gaining 3.3% last month to bring its 2024 gains to 11.2%.
The strength in equities comes despite a sluggish month in the stock market that saw the S&P 500 fall 4.2%.
The five strategies that feed into Wellington — quant, commodities, equities, credit, and macro — are all positive for the year, the person said.
One of Citadel’s largest rivals, Izzy Englander’s Millennium, gained 1.2% for the month. The New York-based firm is up 5% in 2024, a person close to the fund said. Dmitry Balyasny’s eponymous manager was also positive last month despite the equity sell-off, gaining 0.9%. This pushed the Chicago-based manager’s 2024 returns to 4%, a person close to the firm told Business Insider.
While Walleye recently underwent some changes at the top of its organization, the $5.7 billion manager is also seeing a strong start to 2024. A 0.8% gain in April has the firm posting returns of 6.6% for the year, a person close to Walleye said.
Verition is up 4.2% for the year following a 0.4% gain in April, while Steve Schonfeld’s flagship fund is up 6.8% this year following a 0.5% return, according to people with knowledge of the results.
