Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund rallied final month when the broader market was rattled by tight financial coverage in addition to rising recession fears, in accordance with an individual aware of the returns.
Citadel’s multistrategy flagship Wellington fund gained 1.7% in September, bringing its 2023 efficiency to 12.6%, the individual mentioned. The S&P 500 pulled again 4.9% final month, struggling its worst month of the 12 months. The fairness benchmark continues to be up 11% for the 12 months.
The market has grown extra risky and fragile as buyers grapple with a higher-for-longer rate of interest regime. Shares resumed the sell-off this week because the 10-year Treasury yield surged to a 16-year excessive. Many notable buyers, together with Pershing Sq.’s Invoice Ackman, have warned of a deteriorating financial system after a sequence of aggressive fee hikes.
Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, informed CNBC final month he was skeptical that this 12 months’s rally, powered principally by synthetic intelligence-related shares, might be sustainable.
“I am a bit anxious that this rally can proceed,” Griffin mentioned. “Clearly one of many massive drivers of the rally has been … simply the frenzy over generative AI, which has powered many Large Tech shares. … We’re kind of within the seventh or eighth inning of this rally.”
Citadel’s equities fund, which makes use of a protracted/quick technique, was up 1.1% in September and 10.7% this 12 months, whereas its international fastened revenue fund is 8.8% greater up to now in 2023, the individual mentioned.
Citadel had $61 billion in property underneath administration as of Sept. 1. The Wellington fund soared 38% in 2022 for its greatest 12 months ever.