Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, speaks at The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit in New York City, December 4, 2024.
Michael M Santiago | Getty Images
Billionaire Ken Griffin’s handful of hedge funds at Citadel all posted double-digit returns in 2024, led by his tactical trading strategy.
Citadel’s multi-strategy Wellington fund, the largest, ended the year up 15.1%, according to a person familiar with the returns. All five strategies used in the flagship fund – commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative – were positive for the year, the person said.
The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund was the best performer, with a 22.3% return for 2024, the person said. Citadel’s equity fund returned around 18%, while its global fixed income strategy returned 9.7%.
Citadel declined to comment. The hedge fund giant had $66 billion in assets under management as of December.
The stock market just finished a banner year with the S&P 500 up 23.3%, building on a 24.2% gain in 2023. The two-year gain of 53% is the best since the nearly 66% rally in 1997 and 1998.
Griffin recently criticized the high tariffs that newly elected President Donald Trump has promised to implement, saying crony capitalism could be a consequence.
The CEO also said he is not looking at taking Citadel Securities public in the near future. The securities firm is a Miami-based market maker founded by the 56-year-old Florida native in 2002.