While the average hedge fund was slightly down in October, according to at least one hedge fund index, a handful of big-name managers posted market-beating gains for the month.
Among them was Ken Griffin’s Citadel. The firm’s Kensington and Wellington funds gained 3.15 percent for the month, which puts the Chicago-based multi-strategy manager up 18.5 percent for the year, according to investors. The funds were said to have enjoyed strong performance across the board – equities, interest rates, energy and credit.
Meanwhile, Citadel’s Equities fund returned 2.30 percent in October, putting its full-year gains at 14.80 percent. The strong October results make Citadel one of the top performing large hedge funds.
It also moved closer to Tiger Global, which is co-managed by Feroz Dewan and Chase Coleman. The Internet-heavy fund lost 2 percent in October, dropping its year-to-date gains to 20 percent.
Both Citadel and Tiger Global are easily beating the major market averages. The S&P 500 is up 14.4 percent through October. By comparison, the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell 0.52 percent in October, according to industry tracker Hedge Fund Research, which publishes the index.
Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Fund, meanwhile, is also outperforming both the market and hedge fund indexes, generating a 21.52 percent return through October 26. Remember, that excludes just one day of trading in October—the 31st—since the markets were closed for two days due to Superstorm Sandy. Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Fund was up 17.30 percent through October 26.
Other high profile funds are not faring as well, but are still racking up double-digit returns. For example, SAC Capital’s flagship fund was up in October, by between one and two percent, but it is up between 10 percent and 11 percent for the year. King Street Capital gained nearly one percentage point in October, pushing it up 10.26 percent for the year, through October 26. Its King Street Europe gained 8.8 percent through October 26.
Other high profile funds are just muddling along. For example, the Davidson Kempner International Fund is only up 6.7 percent while the $5.6 billion or so Brigade Leveraged Capital Structures Fund is only up about 5.4 percent through October 26.
Paul Tudor Jones II’s Tudor BVI Global Fund is only up between 1.8 percent and 2.6 percent through October 26, depending upon the share class you look at.
The $1.1 billion Hutchin Hill Capital Master Fund, a multistrategy fund run by Neil Chriss, was up 4.23 percent in October, putting it up 7.63 percent for the year.
Meanwhile, several high profile funds are down for the year. For example, Andrew Law’s Caxton Global Investment lost 0.27 percent in October, pushing the global macro fund down by 3.5 percent for the year, through October 25.
And two global systematic funds are still in the red: The Renaissance Institutional Futures Fund (RIFF) is down more than 6 percent through the end of October, while the Winton Futures Fund is off 5.8 percent.