October was mostly treats instead of tricks for the biggest hedge funds in the industry.
Market volatility briefly reached its highest point since the spring rollout of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but investor jitters dissipated quickly as the US and China came to a trade agreement.
The biggest players in the $5 trillion hedge fund industry finished October mostly positive, though few were able to match the returns of the S&P 500.
At Izzy Englander’s $79 billion Millennium, the firm managed to return 1.5% in October, according to a person familiar with the firm. That bumped its 2025 gains to 7.6%.
Citadel had one of its strongest months of the year, with all five strategies making money across Ken Griffin’s $69 billion firm, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The flagship Wellington fund gained 1.8% and is up 6.8% year-to-date.
Its Tactical Trading fund, which blends its quant and fundamental stock-picking teams, gained 2.7% and is up 13.4% year-to-date; its equities fund gained 2.3% and is up 10.4% on the year; and its fixed-income fund gained 1.1% and is up 7.3% year-to-date.
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Dmitry Balyasny’s $29.5 billion firm is now up 12.5% on the year after a 2.4% gain last month, a person close to the manager said. Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint continued its strong year with another positive month, and the New York-based firm is now up 14.2% year-to-date, a person close to the manager said.
The S&P 500 hit new highs after a monthly gain of 2.3%, which was partially driven by strong earnings growth from the world’s largest companies. A review by the London Stock Exchange Group found that roughly 83% of S&P 500 companies that reported earnings so far in the fourth quarter have beaten estimates.
For the year, the index is up more than 16%.
Still, the industry overall is in a good place. Citco, a fund administrator with trillions of assets under administration, said in a recent report that 2025 is on pace to be the best year for hedge funds since 2020.
The managers mentioned declined to comment.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on November 4 at 7:06 am. New figures have been added to the table below as they have been learned.
