Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin speaks at the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, USA on May 6, 2024.
David Swanson | Reuters
Billionaire investor Ken Griffin's Citadel hedge fund inched up amid August's volatility as markets grapple with emerging growth fears.
Citadel's multi-strategy Wellington fund gained about 1% in August, bringing its year-to-date return to 9.9%, according to a person familiar with the matter. All five strategies used by the flagship fund – commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quant – have been positive this month, this person said.
The Miami-based firm's tactical trading fund gained 1.5% last month and is up 14.5% this year. Its equity fund with a long/short strategy edged up 0.8%, pushing returns to 9.3% in 2024.
Citadel declined to comment. As of August 1, the hedge fund complex had approximately $63 billion in assets under management.
Volatility returned strongly in August as a weak jobs report in July reignited fears of a recession. On August 5, the S&P 500 fell 3%, its worst day since September 2022. The S&P 500 currently leads by more than 15% through 2024.
Overall, the hedge fund community has entered defensive mode recently as macroeconomic uncertainty grows. Prime brokerage data from Goldman Sachs showed hedge funds were recently net sellers of global stocks for a seventh straight week, driven by sales in communications services, financials and consumer staples stocks.