Hedge funds earn their keep when markets are declining or investors are uncertain about the future. And the last few years, marked by the resugence of inflation and geopolitical upheaval, have been a time for investors to reexamine and, perhaps rebuild, their hedge fund portfolios.
The winners of Institutional Investor’s annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards come as allocators, consultants, and data firms are discussing how to improve fund selection, data quality, and the role of protecting a portfolio after years when seeking the highest returns was all that mattered.
II’s awards are a unique mix of quantitiatve analysis and votes from pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare funds, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds. This year the world’s biggest institutional investors named Citadel the Institutional Hedge Fund Manager of the Year — for the second year in a row.
The hedge fund firm headed by Ken Griffin was also named Multistrategy Hedge Fund Manager of the Year for the second year running, and Macro Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
Citadel, along with the other winners and Rising Stars named below, will be honored on June 26 in Newport, Rhode Island at a gala dinner, which is part of II‘s annual Investor Week.
Before voting took placle, the finalists in each category were identified through independent research overseen by the magazine’s editorial team. Nominations submitted by the industry were also vetted and considered. Industry veteran Eric Uhlfelder rigorously reported on the managers and analyzed data from Bloomberg, BarclayHedge, and proprietary sources to determine the nominations.
Citadel isn’t the only manager to take home multiple awards. GoldenTree Asset Management has been named both Credit-Focused Hedge Fund Manager of the Year and Event-Driven Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
Newcomer CastleKnight Management was named Emerging Hedge Fund Manager of the Year by investors. In the Equity Hedge Fund Manager of the Year category, allocators chose Viking Global as the winner.
Institutional Investor’s Activist Hedge Fund Manager of the Year is Saba Capital Management. Saba, Boaz Weinstein’s firm, took home this prize in 2023 as well. Meanwhile, D.E. Shaw Group was selected as the Quantitative Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
In the final category — Most Innovative Hedge Fund Manager of the Year — Union Bridge, Goldman Sachs External Investing Group, was selected as the winner.
Institutional Investor is also honoring seven Rising Stars. They include Hilary Curran (Eisler Capital), Kevin Del Mauro (Leucadia Asset Management), Colton Loder (Cohalo), Devon Long (Bridgewater Associates), Jeffrey Park (Bitwise), Luke Rodino (RPD Fund Management), and Phil Stone (Fourthstone). Look out for the Rising Stars’ stories in an upcoming article on II.
Institutional Investor’s Hedge Fund Lifetime Achievement Award winner will be announced over the summer and honored in New York in September.