How Citadel, Millennium, D.E. Shaw, and Other Hedge Funds Fared in May

Jan 29, 2024

Billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel continues to lead the competitive multistrategy hedge fund performance race this year, despite being bested for the month of May by Izzy Englander's hedge fund.

Citadel's flagship Wellington fund posted a 6.13% return for the first five months of the year, above year-to-date returns for hedge fund rivals Point72, which is up around 5%, and Millennium, up 1.6%, according to people familiar with the returns.

Wellington ended May up 0.72%.

For May, top-performing multistrategy funds — named for their expertise in a wide variety of investing strategies — include Englander's Millennium and Balyasny, which returned 1.05% and 1%, respectively.

The S&P 500 was up 0.29% in May and 9.3% for the first five months of the year as investors rallied around the AI boom, including chip-maker Nvidia.

Returns are still rolling out, but the major hedge fund players did not see major movements within their flagship funds. Representatives for the firms declined to comment.

All of Citadel's core strategies have had positive returns. The Miami-based firm's Equities fund was up 1.25% last month and is up 7.32% year to date, while the Tactical Trading fund gained 0.98% and 7.15% over the same respective periods. The Global Fixed Income fund was up 0.71% and gained 2.97% since January, according to people familiar with the returns.

In other hedge fund news: London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace's Eureka flagship fund, an equity fund managed by founder Paul Marshall, climbed 1.74% in May and is up 1.70% year to date.

6.13%

Point72

Balyasny Atlas Enhanced

DE Shaw Composite

Millennium

1.60%

0.25%

-0.75%