Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund at Citadel rises 10.2% in volatile 2025

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund at Citadel climbed double digits in 2025, navigating a volatile year marked by sharp market swings, trade tensions and a late-year rebound in risk assets.

Citadel’s flagship multistrategy Wellington fund, its largest, gained 10.2% in 2025, according to a person familiar with the firm’s returns who asked to remain anonymous as the information is private. 

The firm’s tactical trading fund, which blends equities with quantitative strategies, rose 18.6% in 2025, the person said. Citadel’s fundamental equity strategy returned 14.5%, while its global fixed income fund advanced 9.4%.

Citadel declined to comment. 

The S&P 500 locked in a 16.4% gain for the year, its third straight double-digit annual advance. That marks an impressive recovery from the rout seen in early April following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announcement. At one point, the S&P 500 was even on the cusp of closing in bear market territory.

The hedge fund plans to return about $5 billion of profits earned this year to clients in an effort to limit capital growth, CNBC’s Leslie Picker previously reported. The move is expected to reduce assets under management to about $67 billion from roughly $72 billion.

Wellington’s long-term track record remains strong as the fund has generated an annualized return of 19% since its inception in 1990, the person said.