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- The industry's biggest hedge funds posted gains last month.
- Point72 started the year strong, as did Asia-based funds.
- The S&P 500 index hit record highs in January, though it gave back some gains at the end of the month.
The biggest hedge funds in the $5 trillion industry started 2026 in the black, for the most part.
Steve Cohen's $45.7 billion Point72 started the year strong with a 2.9% gain, a person close to the firm said.
Ken Griffin's $65 billion Citadel returned 1% in its flagship Wellington fund in January, a person close to the Miami-based firm told Business Insider. Schonfeld also returned 1% in its flagship Partners fund last month, a person close to the firm said. Michael Gelband's ExodusPoint, which had its best year in 2025, was up 1.8% in January, a person close to the manager said.
Multistrategy funds place bets across a diversified set of strategies to generate strong returns for investors. However, a trend started in 2025 seems to be continuing for some big names: Citadel and Schonfeld's smaller funds outperformed their broader flagship offerings.
Citadel's Tactical Trading fund, which blends its fundamental stockpicking strategies with its computer-run ones, was up 2% in January, a strong showing given the choppy start to the year quant funds have faced. The firm's fixed-income-only fund was up 1.3%, the person close to the manager said.
Schonfeld's Fundamental Equity fund was up 2.4% in January, and LMR's convertibles-focused fund posted a 2.5% gain last month, people close to the two managers told Business Insider. Boothbay's high-octane offering made 1.5% in January, while its flagship returned 1.3%, a person close to the New York-based firm said.
The S&P 500 index was up 1.4% last month, hitting all-time highs in the middle of January, before dipping slightly before the month's end.
A bright spot in the industry was strategies focused on Asian markets. Two Asia-based multistrategy managers, $5 billion Dymon Asia and $3 billion Pinpoint Asset Management, had banner months, returning 5% and 4.8%, respectively.
For Pinpoint, it was the best monthly return since July 2020, a person close to the manager told Business Insider. Dymon Asia's returns were driven by Asian equities and FX strategies, a senior executive at the firm told Business Insider.
Bobby Jain's firm, meanwhile, continues to trail peers. At the start of the firm's second full year of trading, Jain Global lost 0.9% in January, a person close to the manager said.
The firms mentioned declined to comment.
(Editor's note: This story was originally published on February 2 at 12:33 p.m. New figures have been added to the table below as they have been learned.)
| Fund | January performance | 2025 performance |
| Dymon Asia | 5% | 18% |
| Pinpoint Asset Management | 4.8% | 11.6% |
| Point72 | 2.9% | 17.5% |
| ExodusPoint | 1.8% | 18% |
| Verition | 1.5% | 7.5% |
| Boothbay | 1.3% | 18.1% |
| Schonfeld Partners | 1% | 12.5% |
| Citadel Wellington | 1% | 10.2% |
| Balyasny | 0.9% | 16.7% |
| LMR | 0.7% | 12.7% |
| Jain Global | -0.9% | 3.7% |