Hedge funds delivered resilient performance in April despite heightened market volatility triggered by tariff policy shifts, according to new data from Citco, the global asset servicer with over $2tn in assets under administration (AUA).
Citco-reported hedge funds posted a weighted average return of 0.9% for the month, with 53% of funds generating positive returns. The gains came during a month marked by global equity turbulence and sharp moves in interest rate expectations.
Equity and global macro strategies led the pack, each returning 1.7% on average, while fixed income arbitrage strategies were flat for the month, with commodities funds were the sole laggard, declining 2%.
Performance diverged sharply by AUA tier. The largest funds (AUA > $3bn) outperformed with an average return of 1.3%, followed by mid-sized funds ($1bn–$3bn) at 0.7%. In contrast, smaller funds (<$200m) saw negative returns of -0.3%.
Investor sentiment appeared to stabilise after a rocky start to the year, as April marked the strongest month of 2025 for net inflows, with $4.6bn in new capital added across hedge fund strategies. Multi-strategy vehicles attracted the bulk of flows, pulling in $3.4bn in net new assets.
Geographically, European funds led inflows with $2.3bn, followed by $2.1bn into the Americas and a modest $200m into Asia-based funds.
Return dispersion widened slightly in April, with the gap between the 90th and 10th percentile returns rising to 9.6%, up from 9.4% in March – highlighting the varying degrees of success among managers navigating the market volatility.
Operational volumes meanwhile, remained elevated, with Citco processing 59,479 treasury payments in April, up 19% year-on-year and continuing a run of record-high activity levels.
