Key Takeaways
- • AQR Capital Management's flagship Apex Strategy multi-strategy fund delivered 15.6% year-to-date returns through September 30, 2025, with a 4.0% September gain, significantly outperforming systematic hedge fund peers.
- • The $165 billion hedge fund posted double-digit returns across multiple strategies: Managed Futures Full Volatility Strategy up 17.7% YTD, Helix Strategy up 13% YTD, and AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy up 14.3% YTD.
- • AQR's performance substantially outpaced the broader systematic trend-following hedge fund universe, which is down approximately 2% year-to-date according to Societe Generale indices.
- • September marked a strong month across all reported strategies, with gains ranging from 2.9% (Delphi) to 9.3% (Managed Futures), demonstrating consistent execution across AQR's multi-strategy platform.
Summary
Cliff Asness's AQR Capital Management concluded the third quarter with robust returns across its flagship strategies, positioning the $165 billion hedge fund well above peer benchmarks heading into the final quarter of 2025. The firm's Apex Strategy, its primary multi-strategy vehicle, generated 15.6% returns year-to-date through September 30, anchored by a 4.0% September performance.
AQR demonstrated broad-based strength across its strategy lineup. The Managed Futures Full Volatility Strategy led performance with a 17.7% year-to-date return, posting a particularly strong 9.3% gain in September. The Helix Strategy, which employs trend-following approaches in less liquid, harder-to-access markets, returned 13% year-to-date with a 6.3% September contribution. The AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy posted 14.3% year-to-date returns, buoyed by a 2.9% September advance.
The outperformance relative to peer systematic hedge funds—whose algorithms typically identify and ride market trends until signals exhaust—underscores AQR's competitive positioning. Societe Generale's index tracking trend-following hedge funds shows the broader category down approximately 2% year-to-date, creating a substantial 17.6 percentage point performance gap between AQR's Apex Strategy and category averages. This divergence suggests AQR's multi-strategy approach, which blends trend-following with additional systematic techniques, has proven more resilient in 2025's market environment than pure momentum-based strategies.
The consistent monthly gains across all strategies during September indicate sustained execution quality and favorable market conditions for AQR's quantitative and systematic methodologies as the firm moves into the final quarter of the year.
AQR demonstrated broad-based strength across its strategy lineup. The Managed Futures Full Volatility Strategy led performance with a 17.7% year-to-date return, posting a particularly strong 9.3% gain in September. The Helix Strategy, which employs trend-following approaches in less liquid, harder-to-access markets, returned 13% year-to-date with a 6.3% September contribution. The AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy posted 14.3% year-to-date returns, buoyed by a 2.9% September advance.
The outperformance relative to peer systematic hedge funds—whose algorithms typically identify and ride market trends until signals exhaust—underscores AQR's competitive positioning. Societe Generale's index tracking trend-following hedge funds shows the broader category down approximately 2% year-to-date, creating a substantial 17.6 percentage point performance gap between AQR's Apex Strategy and category averages. This divergence suggests AQR's multi-strategy approach, which blends trend-following with additional systematic techniques, has proven more resilient in 2025's market environment than pure momentum-based strategies.
The consistent monthly gains across all strategies during September indicate sustained execution quality and favorable market conditions for AQR's quantitative and systematic methodologies as the firm moves into the final quarter of the year.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.