• 2024 returns range from almost 10% to over 50%
• Equity performance adds to returns, energy detracted, sources say

LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Some of the world's largest hedge funds finished 2024 with comfortable double-digit returns, benefiting from chaotic markets, central bank policy changes and a tight U.S. presidential election race.

Hedge funds in 2024 averaged a 10.7% return in the year through November, according to PivotalPath, versus 5.7% in the same period in 2023. But some portfolio managers scored gains above 50% for the full last year.

Light Street Capital's long/short fund focused on technology ended 2024 up 59.4%. Overall, long/short hedge funds had their best year since 2020, Goldman Sachs said.

Macro hedge fund Discovery Capital ended 2024 up 52% after gains across equities, currencies, rates and credit, a source familiar with the performance said, with trades in both emerging and developed countries.

Also on the macro side, Bridgewater Associates' flagship Pure Alpha 18% volatility fund gained just over 11% in 2024 through Dec. 27, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

British hedge fund Marshall Wace, which manages almost $71 billion, returned double-digit gains in several of its funds, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Co-founded by British financier Paul Marshall, the firm returned around 14% in its Eureka fund, a source said.

Large U.S. multi-strategy firms also posted double-digit gains.

Cinctive Capital went up 22.8% last year, while Schonfeld's flagship hedge fund Strategic Partners rose 19.7%.

Citadel's flagship fund Wellington posted a 15.1% gain, while Millennium Management returned 15% in 2024, according to people familiar with the results.

Citadel offered clients the option to cash out Wellington's profits. Very few clients took up the offer, with redemptions totaling only roughly $300 million out of billions in profit.

Two of D.E. Shaw's multi-strategy funds posted double-digit returns including its flagship Composite fund, which gained 18% in 2024, and its more macro-oriented fund Oculus, which posted a 36% return in the same period, its best-ever annual performance, said another person close to the matter.

Millennium and D.E. Shaw's results were first reported by the Financial Times and Bloomberg, respectively.

Jon Caplis, CEO of hedge fund research firm PivotalPath, said there was "a resurgence of the multi-strat space across 2024," and he expects to see more inflows to the strategy.

Last year's gains came as rate cuts from the likes of the U.S. Federal Reserve helped push stocks higher, while a decisive presidential election win for Donald Trump and Bank of Japan rate hikes were other catalysts for big market swings.

TRACKING TRENDS

Quantitative hedge funds, which use algorithms and coding to track markets, benefited from big moves in several markets including equities, currencies, grains and soft commodities such as cocoa and coffee, which both surged last year.

For Dunn Capital Management, these were all positive drivers for the Dunn WMA trading program, which returned 7.28% for the year despite negative drivers in energies, metals and European equities, said a source with knowledge of the matter.

Hedge fund CFM (Capital Fund Management), also a quantitative investment manager, returned 12.01% in its Discus Fund and 14.22% in its Stratus Fund, another source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

British fund Winton saw a roughly 10% return on investment in its multi-strategy systematic fund. Overall, the hedge fund manages around $13 billion.

Transtrend's Diversified Trend Program returned 5.90% for 2024.

Sourcing: several people with knowledge of the matter. Firms declined to comment on the matter.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/hedge-funds-deliver-double-digit-returns-2024-2025-01-02/