Billionaire investor Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, spoke at the Economic Club of New York at The Plaza Hotel on November 21, 2024. Despite navigating a year marked by sharp market fluctuations, trade tensions, and a late-year rise in risk assets, Citadel's flagship hedge fund posted substantial gains in 2025.
According to a source familiar with the firm's confidential returns, Citadel's largest hedge fund, the Wellington fund, achieved a 10.2% gain. The firm's tactical trading fund, which integrates equities with quantitative strategies, saw an 18.6% increase, while the fundamental equity strategy returned 14.5%, and the global fixed income fund advanced 9.4%.
Citadel has opted not to provide a comment on these results. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 noted a 16.4% gain for the year—its third consecutive year of double-digit growth—demonstrating a remarkable recovery from the early April downturn following President Donald Trump's comprehensive tariff announcements, during which the index nearly reached bear market territory.
In light of these gains, Citadel intends to distribute approximately $5 billion of this year's profits back to its clients to manage its capital growth. According to a CNBC report by Leslie Picker, this action is expected to reduce the firm's assets under management from around $72 billion to approximately $67 billion.
The Wellington fund maintains a solid long-term performance, with annualized returns of 19% since its inception in 1990, as noted by the source.