- $11.6 billion Schonfeld is up 15.5% for the year in its flagship fund.
- The firm's struggles in late 2022 and 2023 led to rumors of a potential tie-up with rival Millennium.
In a year full of strong months, October still stood out for $11.6 billion Schonfeld Strategic Advisors.
The New York-based fund is roughly 12 months removed from nixing a possible takeover by larger rival Millennium, and the manager's strong 2024 has been a big help in solidifying its standing in the hedge fund industry.
The firm's flagship fund, its Partners strategy, is up 15.5% in 2024 through October thanks to a 2.3% gain last month, according to people familiar with the matter. It's the second-largest monthly gain for the fund this year, trailing only March's standout return.
The firm has been led by its stockpickers, and its Fundamental Equity fund was up 4% in October, bringing its 2024 returns to 16.5%, the people said. The flagship fund has been up 17 of the last 18 months, the people said.
October was a strong month generally for the large multistrategy managers that have dominated industry headlines in recent years. The resiliency of the business model — which accumulates the returns from dozens or even hundreds of trading teams into a single strategy — was once again on display, as stock markets faltered at the end of the month thanks to sell-offs of mega-cap stocks like Microsoft.
The S&P 500 closed October slightly lower than it opened the month, the first down month since April.
Walleye, which has leaned on its volatility strategies in rocky months this year, was up 1.9%, a person close to the manager told Business Insider. That return bumped the manager up to a 13.3% gain for 2024.
Ken Griffin's Citadel was up 1.2% last month in the firm's flagship Wellington fund, a person close to the Miami-based fund told Business Insider. The fund is now up 11.2% through October. The firm's Tactical Trading fund, which includes quant and equity strategies, is up 18% for the year after a 2% gain last month, the person said.
Millennium, meanwhile, made 0.4% last month, pushing its annual return to 10%, a person close to Izzy Englander's firm said.
The list below will be updated as more performance returns are learned. The firms declined to comment.
| Fund | October performance | 2024 performance |
| Schonfeld Partners | 2.3% | 15.5% |
| Walleye | 1.9% | 13.3% |
| Sculptor | 1.8% | 11.8% |
| Citadel Wellington | 1.2% | 11.2% |
| Millennium | 0.4% | 10% |
| Verition | 0.8% | 7.9% |
| Balyasny | 1.3% | 7.4% |
| ExodusPoint | 0.2% | 6.7% |