Long-short equity managers outpaced other hedge fund strategies in July, capitalising on record equity market highs, while systematic hedge funds faltered and multistrategy platforms posted mixed results, according to a report by Reuters citing data from Goldman Sachs and other industry sources.
Fundamental equity stock-pickers gained nearly 1.5% for the month and are now up 7.8% year-to-date, according to Goldman’s monthly hedge fund monitor. Gains were largely driven by exposure to crowded long positions in high-performing large-cap stocks amid continued market strength, with the S&P 500 rising 1.38% during the month.
In contrast, quantitative equity funds faced their worst drawdown of the year before staging a modest recovery in the final week of July. Systematic strategies ended the month down 2%, halving earlier losses, but remain up 10% YTD.
Returns across large multi-manager platforms were muted. Schonfeld Strategic Partners, the firm’s flagship multi-strat fund, posted a -0.3% return in July, bringing its YTD performance to +5.8%, according to a source familiar with the results. However, Schonfeld’s Fundamental Equities fund gained 1.4% in July and is up 7.1% for the year.
Marshall Wace’s Market Neutral TOPS strategy slipped 0.2%, though it remains up nearly 11% YTD. Meanwhile, its Eureka fund posted +1.6% in July and is now up 6.1% for 2025.
Citadel’s Wellington fund delivered a +1.3% return in July, bringing its 2025 performance to +4%.
Managed futures and trend-following strategies had another tough month. Man Group’s AHL Alpha programme fell 1.5% in July, extending its YTD loss to over 9%, while Transtrend’s diversified trend strategy remains deep in negative territory, down 15.7% YTD as of early August.
Graham Capital’s suite of funds saw mixed results, with its Quant Macro strategy returning +1.9% in July, though still down 5% YTD, while other quant and discretionary books remained broadly flat or slightly negative for the month.
