Two of the world’s top hedge funds have been hit by losses since the turn of the year amid market turmoil over President Trump’s tariff plans that look set to upend global trade.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel was down by 0.8% in the first quarter of this year, while Izzy Englander’s Millenium Management was down by 2%, according to Bloomberg.
The two men are both titans of the US financial industry, worth $42 billion and $14 billion, respectively.
Read also:Dstv Packages And Price
Investors have been buckling down ahead of the commander-in-chief’s self-styled ‘Liberation Day,’ in which he will announce a string of fresh levies on foreign goods.
They have pulled back from European automotive stocks, US tech firms, and riskier emerging markets.
German 10-year government bonds have also seen their largest weekly selloff since 1990, while the S&P 500 has experienced its biggest weekly fall in six months.
It is a sea change from the end of last year when Trump’s election victory had raised enthusiasm on Wall Street that the economy would quickly rebound as he promised a light-touch approach to regulation and M&A activity.
But Griffin, who founded Citadel in 1990, reportedly told his money managers to take advantage of the current turmoil.
“Let’s play offense,” he was quoted as saying in an email last month by Bloomberg.
Read also:Good Morning Prayer For My Man
The biggest funds have faced margin calls, according to a note to clients by Swiss giant UBS, which is when traders are asked to stump up more cash in risky markets.
The research paper singled out assets that are extremely sensitive to the overall rise and fall of markets, pointing to US tech stocks.
But other hedge funds have been more nimble, with smaller firm able to post positive returns since the start of 2025.
Bridgewater Associates’ flagship fund Pure Alpha 18% volatility, posted a 9.9% gain in the first quarter, according to Reuters.
Hedge fund EDL Capital, which trades assets like currencies and bonds based on global macroeconomic outlooks, has returned 22% so far in 2025, the same source said.
The $1.5 billion fund, run by star trader Edouard de Langlade, finished March up 14% after a February in which the fund returned 5.9%.
| Fund | March | Q1 2005 |
| AQR Apex Strategy | 3.4% | 9% |
| AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy | 2.3% | 9.7% |
| AQR Helix Strategy | 4.4% | 3% |
| AQR Managed Futures Full Strategy | 2.5% | 8.2% |
| EDL Capital | 14% | 22% |
| Citadel Wellington | -0.5% | -0.8% |
| Millennium Management | -1.2% | -2% |
| Balyasny | -1% | 2.5% |
| Bridgewater Pure Alpha 18% volatility | 9.9% |
Billionaire investor Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management finished the first quarter with positive returns in several of its funds.
The $128 billion hedge fund returned a positive 3.4% performance in March. Its multi-strategy fund, Apex Strategy, finished with a 9% first-quarter return.
Billionaire investor Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management finished the first quarter with positive returns in several of its funds.
This strategy benefited from a balanced long and short strategy. It also saw arbitrage gains, which is when a trader exploits the difference of one financial asset against another.
A long position expects an asset to rise, whereas a short position makes money when it declines in value.
With Post wires
