Key Takeaways
- • Millennium Management's flagship multistrategy fund fell 2.3% in October, while Marshall Wace's Eureka strategy lost 5.4%, cutting its year-to-date gain to 5.3%.
- • ExodusPoint declined 2.4%, Dymon's multistrategy fund fell 1.8%, and North Rock Capital lost 2.3% in the month.
- • Arini's flagship credit fund was down 12.1% through October 23, per Bloomberg.
- • Citadel's Wellington fund gained 1.7% in October, lifting its 2026 return to 15.3%, while Quantedge rose 7.2% and is up 60% for the year.
- • JPMorgan's positioning intelligence team described October as exceptionally difficult, with few strategies escaping the volatility.
Summary
October was one of the broadest losing months for large hedge funds since the pandemic, according to Bloomberg as reported by HedgeCo.Net. A technology selloff, turmoil in government bond markets and election-driven currency moves hit equity, credit and macro strategies at the same time.
Losses were widespread among large multistrategy and equity platforms. Millennium Management's flagship multistrategy fund fell 2.3% for the month. Marshall Wace's Eureka strategy lost 5.4%, reducing its year-to-date gain to 5.3%. ExodusPoint Capital Management declined 2.4%, Dymon's multistrategy fund fell 1.8% and equity manager North Rock Capital lost 2.3%. In credit, Arini's flagship was down 12.1% through October 23.
A small number of managers finished the month higher. Citadel's flagship Wellington fund gained 1.7% in October, lifting its 2026 return to 15.3%. Systematic manager Quantedge rose 7.2% in the month and is up 60% for the year, helped by commodity, fixed income and market-neutral positions.
The drivers were concentrated over a few weeks: renewed worries about AI-related valuations, higher sovereign yields amid political instability in France, and sharp currency moves after Brazil's unexpected election result. JPMorgan's positioning intelligence team described the month as exceptionally difficult, with few strategies escaping the volatility.
The dispersion in results is the key signal for allocators. Leveraged multistrategy platforms are designed to contain any single shock, but simultaneous reversals across crowded trades in several asset classes test that design. Allocators reviewing October will need to distinguish managers who lost on genuine risk-taking from those whose losses reflected positions widely held across the industry.
Losses were widespread among large multistrategy and equity platforms. Millennium Management's flagship multistrategy fund fell 2.3% for the month. Marshall Wace's Eureka strategy lost 5.4%, reducing its year-to-date gain to 5.3%. ExodusPoint Capital Management declined 2.4%, Dymon's multistrategy fund fell 1.8% and equity manager North Rock Capital lost 2.3%. In credit, Arini's flagship was down 12.1% through October 23.
A small number of managers finished the month higher. Citadel's flagship Wellington fund gained 1.7% in October, lifting its 2026 return to 15.3%. Systematic manager Quantedge rose 7.2% in the month and is up 60% for the year, helped by commodity, fixed income and market-neutral positions.
The drivers were concentrated over a few weeks: renewed worries about AI-related valuations, higher sovereign yields amid political instability in France, and sharp currency moves after Brazil's unexpected election result. JPMorgan's positioning intelligence team described the month as exceptionally difficult, with few strategies escaping the volatility.
The dispersion in results is the key signal for allocators. Leveraged multistrategy platforms are designed to contain any single shock, but simultaneous reversals across crowded trades in several asset classes test that design. Allocators reviewing October will need to distinguish managers who lost on genuine risk-taking from those whose losses reflected positions widely held across the industry.
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