Citadel's Wellington hedge fund, led by Ken Griffin, manages to achieve a 1% return in the volatile August market.

In August, Citadel's hedge funds, led by billionaire investor Ken Griffin, experienced modest gains despite market volatility as investors confronted an emerging growth concern.

The Wellington fund managed by Citadel gained approximately 1% in August, resulting in a year-to-date return of 9.9%. According to a source who spoke anonymously, all five strategies employed in the flagship fund, including commodities, equities, fixed income, credit, and quantitative, were positive for the month.

The Miami-based firm's tactical trading fund gained 1.5% last month and has increased by 14.5% year-to-date. Meanwhile, its equities fund, which employs a long/short strategy, advanced 0.8%, bringing its 2024 returns to 9.3%.

As of August 1, the hedge fund complex had approximately $63 billion in assets under management. Citadel declined to provide any comment.

In August, volatility returned as concerns about a recession resurfaced following a weak July jobs report. On August 5, the S&P 500 experienced its worst day since September 2022, dropping 3%. Despite this, the market quickly recovered, ending the month up 2.3%. As a result, the S&P 500 is now ahead of more than 15% in 2024.

Recently, hedge funds have been selling global equities for seven consecutive weeks, with the majority of the sales coming from communication services, financial, and consumer staples stocks, as reported by Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage data.