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- The industry's biggest hedge funds posted gains last month.
- Point72 started the year strong, as did Asia-based funds.
- The S&P 500 index hit record highs in January, though it gave back some gains at the end of the month.
The biggest hedge funds in the $5 trillion industry started 2026 in the black, for the most part.
Steve Cohen's $45.7 billion Point72 started the year strong with a 2.9% gain, a person close to the firm said.
Ken Griffin's $65 billion Citadel returned 1% in its flagship Wellington fund in January, a person close to the Miami-based firm told Business Insider. Schonfeld also returned 1% in its flagship Partners fund last month, a person close to the firm said. Michael Gelband's ExodusPoint, which had its best year in 2025, was up 1.8% in January, a person close to the manager said.
Multistrategy funds place bets across a diversified set of strategies to generate strong returns for investors. However, a trend started in 2025 seems to be continuing for some big names: Citadel and Schonfeld's smaller funds outperformed their broader flagship offerings.
Citadel's Tactical Trading fund, which blends its fundamental stockpicking strategies with its computer-run ones, was up 2% in January, a strong showing given the choppy start to the year quant funds have faced. The firm's fixed-income-only fund was up 1.3%, the person close to the manager said.
Schonfeld's Fundamental Equity fund was up 2.4% in January, and LMR's convertibles-focused fund posted a 2.5% gain last month, people close to the two managers told Business Insider. Boothbay's high-octane offering made 1.5% in January, while its flagship returned 1.3%, a person close to the New York-based firm said.
The S&P 500 index was up 1.4% last month, hitting all-time highs in the middle of January, before dipping slightly before the month's end.
A bright spot in the industry was strategies focused on Asian markets. Two Asia-based multistrategy managers, $5 billion Dymon Asia and $3 billion Pinpoint Asset Management, had banner months, returning 5% and 4.8%, respectively.
For Pinpoint, it was the best monthly return since July 2020, a person close to the manager told Business Insider. Dymon Asia's returns were driven by Asian equities and FX strategies, a senior executive at the firm told Business Insider.
The firms mentioned declined to comment.
(Editor's note: This story was originally published on February 2 at 12:33 p.m. New figures have been added to the table below as they have been learned.)
| Fund | January performance | 2025 performance |
| Dymon Asia | 5% | 18% |
| Pinpoint Asset Management | 4.8% | 11.6% |
| Point72 | 2.9% | 17.5% |
| ExodusPoint | 1.8% | 18% |
| Verition | 1.5% | 7.5% |
| Boothbay | 1.3% | 18.1% |
| Schonfeld Partners | 1% | 12.5% |
| Citadel Wellington | 1% | 10.2% |
| Balyasny | 0.9% | 16.7% |
| LMR | 0.7% | 12.7% |