Factbox: Hedge funds lifted by stocks, stymied by bonds in May, say sources
04/06/2025 17:11
Funds take losses in whipsawed markets
Stocks lifted performance for some
Multi-strat returns broadly positive
Adds numbers for Point72, Jain Global, Caxton Associates, Marshall Wace, Winton and Balyasny
By Nell Mackenzie and Summer Zhen
LONDON/HONG KONG, June 6 (Reuters) - Hedge funds rose in May on a weaker dollar and by exploiting market dislocations following April's global trade shock but faced losses in whipsawed commodities and fixed income markets, according to sources and bank research.
Stocks bounced back last month as tariff worries ebbed while bond markets sold off as worries about high debt levels in big economies such as the United States and Japan resurfaced.
Hedge funds globally had a monthly return of 3% as of May 29, a JPMorgan prime brokerage note sent to clients and seen by Reuters showed. Industry returns were up 5% for the year so far, the note said.
Stock-picking hedge funds posted a 3% performance in May, while multi-strategy hedge funds returned 2.5% and quantitative equity funds using systematic strategies returned 4.2%, the note said.
Multi-strats including the $73 billion Millennium Management and the $25 billion Balyasny Asset Management posted monthly returns of over 1%, while Point72 Asset Management returned almost 1% and Jain Global returned 0.58% for the month.
Singapore's $1.1 billion multi-strategy hedge fund Arrowpoint Investment Partners benefited from exploiting markets roiled by tariff shocks and sees more arbitrage opportunities ahead, its chief investment officer told Reuters.
Billionaire investor Cliff Asness's $135 billion hedge fund AQR Capital Management saw gains from stock selection and corporate arbitrage in its Apex Strategy, which returned a 2.4% May return net of fees, said a source.
Systematic and trend following programmes that traded in stock markets were helped by their stock holdings.
AQR's Helix Strategy, which follows market trends, was flat in May but has delivered a 7% return for 2025 through the end of May, as positive returns from stocks were offset by reversals across interest rate derivatives and trades which play differences across different bond tenors, said the source.
London-listed Man Group's EMG.L AHL Alpha fund returned a negative 2.19% for May and is down around 11% while its multi-strat fund had a positive May and has returned around 5% so far this year, said the fund's website.
Systematic funds, with limits on how much volatility their fund can tolerate, have in recent months had to ditch trades, both losing and winning, even when the uncertainty roiling markets has been temporary, portfolio managers at Man Group's AHL strategy wrote in an article in April.
Winton's systematically traded multi-strategy fund finished May roughly flat and is down 2.2% for the year so far.
| Fund/Hedge fund | May return | YTD return |
| AQR Apex Strategy | 2.4% | 10.6% |
| AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy | 1.8% | 13.9% |
| AQR Helix Strategy | 0.0% | 7.0% |
| Arini Credit Master Fund | 5.39% | 9.88% |
| Arrowpoint Investment Partners | ~3% | |
| Balyasny Asset Management | 1.4% | 4.8% |
| CFM Cumulus | 2.7% | 5.9% |
| CFM Discus | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| CFM Stratus | 1.9% | 4.9% |
| Caxton Macro | -2.5% | 12% |
| Dymon Asia Capital | 3.3% | 8% |
| Jain Global | 0.58% | 0.68% |
| Man Group AHL Alpha Programme | -2.19% | -10.61% |
| Man Strategies 1783 | 1.11% | 5.35% |
| Marshall Wace Neutral TOPS | 3.5% | 10.8% |
| Marshall Wace Eureka | 1.5% | -0.87% |
| Millennium Management | 1.7% | 0.4% |
| Mount Lucas Management | -0.80% | 2.55% |
| Point72 Asset Management | 0.9% | 3.9% |
| Transtrend | -5.42% | -19.07% |
| Winton Multi-Strategy | -0.2% | -2.2% |