Ken Griffin’s Citadel flagship hedge fund returns 8% in September during market sell-off

The volatile September was a golden opportunity for billionaire investor Ken Griffin to shine as his main hedge fund crushed the market with outperformance.

Citadel’s multi-strategy flagship fund Wellington gained 7.8% in September, bringing its year-to-date performance to 18.5%, according to a person familiar with the returns.

All five of the investment strategies of the fund — equities, commodities, global fixed income and macro, credit, and quantitative strategies — all registered gains last month, the person said.

The overall stock market suffered a roller-coaster ride in September as inflation fears, slowing growth and rising rates kept investors on edge. The S&P 500 fell 4.8% last month, posting its worst month since March 2020 and breaking a seven-month winning streak. The blue-chip Dow and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.3% and 5.3%, respectively, suffering their worst months of the year.

The hedge fund industry has been attracting new capital this year as the return of volatility sent investors to alternative assets. Hedge funds saw another $12 billion inflows in August, bringing the overall aseets under management to a record $3.622 trillion, according to data from eVestment.

Citadel’s other multi-strategy fund Tactical Trading gained 3.9% in September and is up 14.1% this year.

The hedge fund community gained about 10% in 2021 through the end of August, according to HFR. Citadel’s returns were first reported by Business Insider.