Hedge fund that hosted staff to lavish Disney party expects to return $7B in profits to clients

Hedge fund Citadel expects to return about $7 billion in profits to its investors in the first week of January after a stellar performance this year, a source familiar with the matter said.

Reuters reported this month that 2022 was shaping up to be one of Citadel’s best years in terms of performance. As a result, Citadel founder and billionaire Ken Griffin paid out of his own deep pockets for about 10,000 staff and their families to converge on Walt Disney World in Florida for three days of celebrations. 

The hedge fund firm, which manages $59 billion in assets, told investors its flagship Wellington fund returned roughly 32% through the end of November.

Citadel did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

This is not the first time Citadel has returned money to its investors, but this will be the largest amount of profit returned in a single year. It has returned more than $11 billion in the last five years as it is more focused on performance, not on capital growth, the source said.

While fears of interest rate hikes and the Russia-Ukraine war weighed on capital markets throughout 2022, leaving the benchmark S&P 500 down about 20%, hedge funds have weathered the downturn better on average. Still, they are down 4.11%, according to data provider HFR.