Several of the world’s largest hedge funds, including Coatue Management and Citadel posted losses last week as heightened volatility linked to the Iran conflict triggered sharp moves across global markets, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Tech-focused Coatue fell 3.8% during the week, leaving it down 2.4% for the year through early March, according to an investor update, while Citadel's flagship Wellington strategy declined about 2%, with losses partly driven by its macro trading unit.
The firm's multi-strategy peers also felt the impact. ExodusPoint Capital Management surrendered its year-to-date gains during the week, while Millennium Management is estimated to have lost roughly $1.5 billion over the same period, leaving it up about 0.75% for the year to 6 March.
Other large platforms reported similar drawdowns. Balyasny Asset Management dropped 3.5% for the week, while Point72 Asset Management fell 1.1%, trimming its year-to-date gain to about 3.4%. Meanwhile, Marshall Wace saw its flagship Eureka fund decline 3.7%, reducing its 2026 return to 2.4%.
The report cites an unnamed person familiar with the matter as revealing that Bobby Jain’s hedge fund scored a small 0.1% gain last week, making it the only multi-strat so far known to have delivered a positive return, although the fund remains down 2.1% for the year to 6 March.
The struggles came amid a broad market selloff following US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. The escalation sent crude oil close to $120 a barrel before prices retreated on expectations the conflict could ease.
Hedge funds were also hit by sharp moves in rates markets. UK two-year government bond yields jumped around 35 basis points in the week through March 6 as traders rapidly reassessed expectations for Bank of England policy in response to the geopolitical shock.
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