Cliff Asness' AQR sees multiple hedge funds up double digits in 2025, beating the market

AQR Capital Management's Apex and Delphi hedge funds significantly outperformed the S&P 500 in the first half of 2025, returning 11.4% and 11.6% respectively, against the benchmark's 5.3% year-to-date gain. This strong performance, achieved during a volatile period, highlights the firm's successful multi-strategy and quantitative approaches, contributing to its overall assets under management growing to $142 billion from $99 billion at the start of 2024.

Analysis

AQR Capital Management demonstrated significant outperformance in the first half of 2025, navigating a volatile market to deliver returns more than double that of the S&P 500 benchmark. The firm's $4.3 billion Apex multi-strategy fund and $4.1 billion Delphi long-short equity fund returned 11.4% and 11.6% respectively, compared to the S&P 500's 5.3% year-to-date gain. This performance is particularly noteworthy given the market context, which included a near 20% equity sell-off in April followed by a sharp rebound to record highs amid trade war and geopolitical tensions. The success of these funds, alongside the 7.4% return from the Helix trend-following strategy, underscores the efficacy of AQR's quant-driven investment philosophy, which is rooted in value and momentum factors. This robust performance has likely been a key driver behind the firm's substantial asset growth, with total AUM increasing from $99 billion at the start of 2024 to $142 billion.

Key Decisions for Investors

• AQR's pronounced outperformance suggests that institutional allocators should review the role of quant-driven, multi-strategy funds in their portfolios, as these strategies appear to be generating significant alpha in the current volatile market environment.
• The firm's success in capturing upside while navigating a major market drawdown validates the use of combined stock, macro, and arbitrage strategies for diversification and risk management.
• The substantial increase in AQR's AUM to $142 billion indicates strong capital flows towards successful alternative managers, a trend that investors should monitor as it can impact fund capacity and competitive dynamics within the industry.