Balyasny Tops Millennium and Citadel During February Turmoil
By Siddharth Philip, Katherine Burton and Bei Hu
Dymon Asia’s regional multi-strategy fund finished month up 1%
European, Chinese stocks surged, while US equities pulled back
(Bloomberg) — Balyasny Asset Management LP gained the most among the world’s biggest multi-manager hedge funds in February as tariff threats and bubbling economic concerns shook markets.
Balyasny’s hedge fund rose 0.9% during the month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That brings the fund’s year-to-date gain to 3.5%, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the results are private.
Millennium Management lost 1.3% in February while Citadel fell 1.7%, the people said. By contrast, Singapore-based Dymon Asia Capital saw its multi-strategy fund focused on the region end the month up 1%.
All five of Balyasny’s strategies were positive in February, according to one of the people. The three strongest performers were its equities, commodities, and macro strategies, the person said.
Recent economic reports show signs of both stubborn inflation and flagging growth in the US just as President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs add uncertainty to equity markets. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.4% during the month. That extended the US stock gauge’s underperformance to the Euro Stoxx Index and the MSCI China Index to more than 10 percentage points in the first two months of the year in dollar terms.
The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks that have driven hedge fund returns in recent years are sputtering as investors question their valuations and hefty spending on artificial intelligence. In contrast, European stocks have seen better returns and Chinese equities are surging.
The pain of some of the multi-strategy managers was shared by US-focused funds that bet on rising and falling stocks, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. clients employing that strategy on average down 1.4% in February, the Wall Street bank’s prime services team said in a note. By contrast, their Asia peers gained 1.9% on average for the month, while European funds notched up a 0.5% gain.
Fund Performance Table (February and YTD)
| Fund | Feb. Return (%) | YTD Return (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Dymon Asia | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| Balyasny | 0.9 | 3.5 |
| ExodusPoint | 0.7 | 2.75 |
| Sculptor | 0.1 | 2.4 |
| Schonfeld | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| Millennium | -1.3 | -0.8 |
| Citadel | -1.7 | -0.3 |
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With assistance from David Ramli.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Siddharth Philip in New York at sphilip3@bloomberg.net;
Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net;
Bei Hu in Hong Kong at bhu5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Amanda Cantrell at acantrell10@bloomberg.net
Jeremy Hill, Russell Ward
