Key Takeaways
- • Bridgewater Associates' Pure Alpha II macro fund returned 34% in 2025, its best performance ever, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
- • Bridgewater's All Weather strategy rose 20% in 2025.
- • D.E. Shaw's flagship multistrategy Composite hedge fund gained 18.5% in 2025, while its Oculus strategy made an estimated 28.2%.
- • Tariff-fueled market uncertainty created favorable conditions for traders, positioning both firms among the biggest hedge fund winners of the year.
Summary
Bridgewater Associates and D.E. Shaw & Co. ranked among the top-performing hedge funds of 2025, according to a Bloomberg report, as tariff-driven market uncertainty provided a fertile environment for traders.
Bridgewater's flagship money pool posted record gains. Its Pure Alpha II macro fund returned 34% last year, its best result ever, while the firm's All Weather strategy rose 20%. The figures were provided by a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified.
D.E. Shaw's strategies also performed strongly, with returns reaching as high as 28% across the group. The firm's flagship multistrategy Composite hedge fund gained 18.5%, and its Oculus strategy made an estimated 28.2%.
The report frames the results as a product of the volatility generated by tariff policy, which gave macro and multistrategy managers a wide set of trading opportunities over the course of the year.
Bridgewater's flagship money pool posted record gains. Its Pure Alpha II macro fund returned 34% last year, its best result ever, while the firm's All Weather strategy rose 20%. The figures were provided by a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified.
D.E. Shaw's strategies also performed strongly, with returns reaching as high as 28% across the group. The firm's flagship multistrategy Composite hedge fund gained 18.5%, and its Oculus strategy made an estimated 28.2%.
The report frames the results as a product of the volatility generated by tariff policy, which gave macro and multistrategy managers a wide set of trading opportunities over the course of the year.
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