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Ken Griffin’s Citadel Hedge Fund Posts Gains Amid Market Volatility

At a recent event in New York, billionaire investor Kenneth C. Griffin discussed the performance of his hedge fund during a tumultuous month for financial markets. According to insider reports, Citadel’s flagship Wellington fund saw a notable increase of 1.4% in January, building on an impressive 15.1% surge in 2024.

Sources familiar with the fund’s operations revealed that all five investment strategies employed by Wellington—commodities, equities, fixed income, credit, and quantitative analysis—registered positive returns for the month.

Additionally, Citadel’s Miami-based tactical trading fund experienced a gain of 2.7% in January, matching the performance of its equities fund, which utilizes a long/short investment strategy. The firm’s global fixed-income fund also contributed positively, yielding a return of 1.9%.

Despite the successful month, Citadel, which started the year managing $65 billion in assets, opted not to comment on the performance metrics.

January was marked by significant market fluctuations as investors reacted to economic policies proposed by the new administration led by President Donald Trump. Notably, concerns were raised over Trump’s protectionist stance, which many in the financial community fear could lead to adverse effects on global trade.

The situation intensified towards the end of the month when a Chinese artificial intelligence competitor, DeepSeek, triggered a sharp sell-off in Nvidia and affected the values of other major technology stocks.

Despite these challenges, major indexes like the S&P 500 managed to secure a rise of 2.7% in January. The benchmark index is currently up 1.9% in 2025, following an outstanding two-year period in which it achieved annual gains exceeding 20% in both 2023 and 2024. The two-year performance of 53% represents the highest increase since the late 1990s.

Before the latest administration officially took office on January 20, Griffin openly critiqued the proposed tariffs, cautioning that they could foster crony capitalism. He pointed out that while domestic firms might benefit temporarily from decreased competition, the long-term implications could be detrimental to American companies’ competitiveness and overall economic health, leading to a decline in productivity.

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