Key Takeaways
- • Renaissance Technologies' Medallion fund returned about 30% in 2024 and its two investor-facing funds rose 22.7% (Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund) and 15.6% (Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha), according to Business Insider sources and Gregory Zuckerman.
- • Most quant hedge funds delivered double-digit returns in 2024, but few matched the S&P 500's 23% gain.
- • Marshall Wace's TOPS fund returned 22.7%, Two Sigma's Spectrum fund 10.9%, and AQR's Helix fund 17.9%, per people close to the firms and company spokespeople.
- • Capital Fund Management's Stratus fund returned 14.2%, and Graham Management's Proprietary Matrix returned 11.9%, with all six of CFM's strategies up double digits.
- • Managers are investing heavily in AI and information-processing capabilities, which a consultant at Agecroft Partners describes as an "information arms race."
Summary
Quant hedge funds posted strong returns in 2024, with the largest and oldest computer-driven managers leading the group, according to Business Insider. Algorithm-driven firms delivered double-digit returns across quant strategy types, including quantamental funds that combine systematic and human-run elements and trend-following strategies. Most of these funds, however, failed to match the S&P 500's 23% gain.
Renaissance Technologies, founded by the late Jim Simons, led the group. Its two main investor-facing funds, Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund and Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha, returned 22.7% and 15.6%, according to a person close to the manager. Its internal Medallion fund, which now runs roughly $12 billion of internal capital, returned about 30%, per Gregory Zuckerman, Simons' biographer and a Wall Street Journal reporter, in a LinkedIn post.
Other large managers also reported gains. Two Sigma, which handed control to a new set of co-CEOs last year, returned 10.9% in its flagship Spectrum fund and 14.3% in its Absolute Return Enhanced strategy on a $60 billion base, according to a person close to the firm. In the UK, Marshall Wace's TOPS fund, which systematically evaluates research from humans to build its portfolio, returned 22.7% on the $70.9 billion manager's behalf, and Winton's all-quant multistrategy fund rose 10.3% on $13.1 billion in assets.
French firm Capital Fund Management returned 14.2% in its $11.8 billion Stratus fund and runs $16.7 billion across six strategies, all up double digits in 2024, according to a person close to the firm. AQR's $2.5 billion trend-following Helix fund returned 17.9%, and its $2.3 billion multistrategy Apex fund returned 15.1%, per a firm spokesperson. Graham Management, which manages $20 billion, returned 11.9% in its Proprietary Matrix quantamental fund and 6.7% in its trend-following fund.
The returns come as managers race to adopt artificial intelligence. Business Insider also noted that a new fund from former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, backed by Stripe's founders and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, is focused on AI that would match human intelligence. Don Steinbrugge, who runs consultancy Agecroft Partners, said the industry is in an "information arms race" and that information advantages are often short-lived. The article is a developing story, and additional firms' performance figures were to be added.
Renaissance Technologies, founded by the late Jim Simons, led the group. Its two main investor-facing funds, Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund and Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha, returned 22.7% and 15.6%, according to a person close to the manager. Its internal Medallion fund, which now runs roughly $12 billion of internal capital, returned about 30%, per Gregory Zuckerman, Simons' biographer and a Wall Street Journal reporter, in a LinkedIn post.
Other large managers also reported gains. Two Sigma, which handed control to a new set of co-CEOs last year, returned 10.9% in its flagship Spectrum fund and 14.3% in its Absolute Return Enhanced strategy on a $60 billion base, according to a person close to the firm. In the UK, Marshall Wace's TOPS fund, which systematically evaluates research from humans to build its portfolio, returned 22.7% on the $70.9 billion manager's behalf, and Winton's all-quant multistrategy fund rose 10.3% on $13.1 billion in assets.
French firm Capital Fund Management returned 14.2% in its $11.8 billion Stratus fund and runs $16.7 billion across six strategies, all up double digits in 2024, according to a person close to the firm. AQR's $2.5 billion trend-following Helix fund returned 17.9%, and its $2.3 billion multistrategy Apex fund returned 15.1%, per a firm spokesperson. Graham Management, which manages $20 billion, returned 11.9% in its Proprietary Matrix quantamental fund and 6.7% in its trend-following fund.
The returns come as managers race to adopt artificial intelligence. Business Insider also noted that a new fund from former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, backed by Stripe's founders and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, is focused on AI that would match human intelligence. Don Steinbrugge, who runs consultancy Agecroft Partners, said the industry is in an "information arms race" and that information advantages are often short-lived. The article is a developing story, and additional firms' performance figures were to be added.
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