Explore how US RIAs and advisors can analyze the largest hedge funds by AUM and use insights from these giants to build stronger client portfolios
For many advisors, the question is not whether to use hedge funds, but which of the largest hedge funds belong in client portfolios. The biggest firms now manage roughly $5 trillion in assets, giving them reach across almost every major asset class.
In this article, you’ll find the top 10 largest hedge funds by asset under management (AUM). You can use this list as a starting point for conducting due diligence, comparing managers, and engaging in client conversations about alternative exposures.
Hedge funds manage trillions of dollars globally and shape many macro and micro market moves. Billion‑dollar‑plus managers alone control about $3.6 trillion, or roughly 86 percent of industry assets, and include many of the most actively tracked hedge funds.
Here is a list of the top 10 largest hedge funds in the world based on AUM data from this website. The figures are from June 2025 financial reports.
Headquarters: Westport, CT
Bridgewater Associates works with large institutional allocators, including pension funds, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and foundations. The firm offers several flagship hedge fund products, including Pure Alpha, Pure Alpha Major Markets, All Weather, and Optimal Portfolio. Each is built around different mixes of alpha and asset‑allocation exposures.
Pure Alpha and Pure Alpha Major Markets focus on active macro trading across major asset classes. All Weather uses asset‑allocation to balance risk across different economic environments. Optimal Portfolio combines elements of All Weather’s allocation with active management.
Headquarters: New York, NY
Millennium Management is a multi-strategy hedge fund that manages capital through multiple independent investment teams across strategies. The firm was founded in 1989 and operates globally, serving institutions primarily through pooled hedge fund vehicles.
Millennium invests in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, and derivatives using relative value, fundamental equity, statistical arbitrage, merger arbitrage, and event-driven approaches. Millennium is among the largest multi-strategy multi-managers, allocating capital to several external managers and backing over 60 third-party teams.
Headquarters: West Palm Beach, FL
Elliott Management is an event-driven hedge fund manager with a long history in activist investing and distressed situations. The firm invests in equities, credit, and private investments, often taking concentrated positions to influence corporate strategy.
The firm’s strategies focus on unlocking value through restructurings, governance changes, mergers, and balance sheet actions. For allocators, Elliott is often viewed as a way to add targeted event and activism exposure along with wider equity and credit holdings.
Citadel is a multi-strategy hedge fund that operates in five main trading areas: commodities, credit and convertibles, equities, global fixed income and macro, and global quantitative strategies.
These books are managed on one platform that centralizes risk, capital, and technology across teams. For advisors screening the largest hedge funds, Citadel represents diversified multi-strategy exposure across liquid global markets.
Man Group is a publicly listed active investment firm with a large hedge fund franchise spanning quantitative and discretionary strategies. Its hedge fund business includes Man AHL, Man GLG, and Man Numeric. Each focuses on different styles.
Man AHL runs model‑driven strategies that trade futures, forwards, swaps, and other liquid instruments across asset classes. Man GLG and Man Numeric add discretionary and quantitative equity long/short, macro, and event‑driven strategies that can complement traditional equity and bond allocations in client portfolios.
Headquarters: New York, NY
D.E. Shaw Group is a multi-strategy hedge fund known for its quantitative research and systematic trading approach. It is often listed among the largest hedge funds globally. The fund’s portfolios span major liquid markets from equities, futures, and options to credit and currencies.
The firm combines quantitative models with fundamental analysis to manage strategies such as statistical arbitrage, macro, relative value, and equity long/short. For allocators, D.E. Shaw is often grouped in the multi-strategy or quant sleeve. It can provide diversified exposure, and long-only equity and fixed income holdings.
Headquarters: Greenwich, CT
AQR Capital Management is a quantitative manager that applies academic research to systematic factor investing. Its hedge fund strategies use signals such as value, momentum, carry, and quality across equities, fixed income, currencies, and commodities.
AQR manages hedge funds and long-only products, including long/short equity, managed futures, alternative risk premia, and multi-asset strategies. Advisors can use its funds to add rule‑based factor exposures with traditional active managers and index building blocks.
Headquarters: New York, NY
Two Sigma is a quantitative hedge fund that uses mathematical models and machine learning to analyze large data sets and build trading signals. Its hedge fund strategies include long/short equity, risk and merger arbitrage, event‑driven trades, volatility trading, and structured credit.
These approaches are implemented in systematic portfolios that trade equities, futures, options, and other liquid instruments in global markets. For advisors, Two Sigma is usually grouped with quantitative multi‑strategy managers that can add diversified return streams to traditional active equity and bond portfolios.
Headquarters: New York, NY
Goldman Sachs Asset Management manages hedge fund strategies within its larger alternatives business. Its platform includes single‑manager hedge funds and multi‑manager or fund‑of‑funds structures.
Programs cover equity long/short, credit, macro, relative value, and multi‑strategy approaches. Among the world’s largest hedge funds, GSAM can offer clients packaged access to several of these strategies.
Headquarters: East Setauket, NY
Renaissance Technologies is a quantitative hedge fund that uses mathematical and statistical models to build automated trading strategies. It applies these models across US and international equities, debt instruments, futures, forwards, and foreign exchange markets.
The firm manages several funds, including Medallion and institutional strategies, that target different types of investors. Renaissance can offer quantitative exposure that differs from fundamental stock picking and traditional active bond strategies.
Below is a summary of the 10 largest hedge funds by AUM, including one‑, five‑, and 10‑year shifts in assets.
| Hedge fund | AUM | 1-year change | 5-year change | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bridgewater Associates | $78.0 billion | -12.9% | -21.1% | -24.7% |
| 2. Millennium Management | $77.5 billion | 14.2% | 76.5% | 155.0% |
| 3. Elliott Management | $76.1 billion | 9.2% | 81.2% | 184.0% |
| 4. Citadel | $67.6 billion | 6.6% | 96.8% | 171.4% |
| 5. Man Group | $66.5 billion | -14.2% | 6.7% | 49.8% |
| 6. D.E. Shaw Group | $60.4 billion | 12.5% | 76.3% | 129.1% |
| 7. AQR Capital Management | $51.0 billion | 31.4% | 58.9% | 11.8% |
| 8. Two Sigma | $50.7 billion | 14.5% | 30.5% | 133.7% |
| 9. Goldman Sachs Asset Management | $48.0 billion | 14.3% | – | 215.8% |
| 10. Renaissance Technologies | $46.0 billion | 17.3% | -34.3% | 70.4% |
If you want to see how leading advisory firms are growing their businesses, check out our special report on the top RIA firms.
On the surface, hedge funds look similar to traditional funds, but they work very differently in practice. This gap matters when you decide whether the largest hedge funds belong in client portfolios.
Here are some of the key differentiators between hedge funds and traditional investment funds:
Investment strategies: hedge funds use tools such as short selling, leverage, and derivatives, and can run concentrated long/short or event‑driven trades in different asset classes
Regulatory oversight: most hedge funds rely on exemptions and face lighter day‑to‑day constraints than mutual funds registered under the Investment Company Act
Target investors: offerings are usually limited to accredited and institutional investors, with high minimum investments and subscription documents that set detailed terms
Fee structure: many hedge funds still charge a management fee on top of an incentive fee on profits, for example variants of the traditional 2 and 20 model
Objective: mutual funds often seek to beat an index, while hedge funds target positive returns across market cycles, including in flat or falling markets
For advisors, these differences affect where hedge funds fit in an overall portfolio and how you explain them to clients. To keep up with new strategies, products, and flows across alternatives, visit and bookmark our Alternative Investments News section
The largest hedge funds are likely to keep gaining share as allocators favor scale, deeper teams, and stronger infrastructure. At the same time, the industry is projected to move beyond roughly $5 trillion in assets in the next few years, driven mainly by institutional demand and multi‑strategy and quant platforms. For advisors, the task is less about predicting the next biggest manager and more about deciding where hedge funds can improve client outcomes.
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