Finance

Ken Griffin’s multistrategy hedge fund at Citadel rose 1.4% in volatile January

Published

4 months ago

February 4, 2025

Kenneth C. Griffin (R) speaks during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 04, 2024 in New York City.

Eugene Gologursky | Getty Images

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund eked out a small gain in a volatile January, according to a person familiar with the returns.

Citadel’s multistrategy flagship Wellington fund climbed 1.4% in January, following a 15.1% gain in 2024, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because the performance numbers are private. All five strategies used in the fund — commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative — were positive for the month, the person said.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund gained 2.7% in January, while its equities fund, which uses a long/short strategy, also returned 2.7%, said the person. Meanwhile, Citadel’s global fixed income fund returned 1.9%.

Citadel, which had $65 billion in assets under management as the year began, declined to comment.

Markets experienced violent price swings last month as investors grew wary of President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies. At the end of the month, an artificial intelligence competitor out of China called DeepSeek caused a massive sell-off in Nvidia and upended other megacap tech stocks.

The S&P 500 climbed 2.7% in January and is up 1.9% in 2025 following a stellar two-year run in 2023 and 2024. The equity benchmark scored a second consecutive annual gain above 20% last year, and the two-year gain of 53% is the best since the 1997 and 1998 when it jumped nearly 66%.

Before the new administration took office on Jan. 20, Griffin criticized the steep tariffs Trump vowed to implement, saying it could result in crony capitalism.

The 56-year-old Citadel founder said domestic companies could enjoy a short-term benefit by having their competitors weakened. Longer term, however, tariffs do more harm to corporate America and the economy as companies lose competitiveness and productivity, Griffin said.

Finance

CVX, UAL, NOC, RH and more

Published

2 hours ago

June 13, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Trump CFPB cuts reviewed by Fed inspector general

Published

22 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Business Finance News

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

The Federal Reserve’s inspector general is reviewing the Trump administration’s attempts to lay off nearly all Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees and cancel the agency’s contracts, CNBC has learned.

The inspector general’s office told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., that it was taking up their request to investigate the moves of the consumer agency’s new leadership, according to a June 6 letter seen by CNBC.

“We had already initiated work to review workforce reductions at the CFPB” in response to an earlier request from lawmakers, acting Inspector General Fred Gibson said in the letter. “We are expanding that work to include the CFPB’s canceled contracts.”

The letter confirms that key oversight arms of the U.S. government are now examining the whirlwind of activity at the bureau after Trump’s acting CFPB head Russell Vought took over in February. Vought told employees to halt work, while he and operatives from Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency sought to lay off most of the agency’s staff and end contracts with external providers.

That prompted Warren and Kim to ask the Fed inspector general and the Government Accountability Office to review the legality of Vought’s actions and the extent to which they hindered the CFPB’s mission. The GAO told the lawmakers in April that it would examine the matter.

“As Trump dismantles vital public services, an independent OIG investigation is essential to understand the damage done by this administration at the CFPB and ensure it can still fulfill its mandate to work on the people’s behalf and hold companies who try to cheat and scam them accountable,” Kim told CNBC in a statement.

The Fed IG office serves as an independent watchdog over both the Fed and the CFPB, and has the power to examine agency records, issue subpoenas and interview personnel. It can also refer criminal matters to the Department of Justice.

Soon after his inauguration, Trump fired more than 17 inspectors general across federal agencies. Spared in that purge was Michael Horowitz, the IG for the Justice Department since 2012, who this month was named the incoming watchdog for the Fed and CFPB.

Horowitz, who begins in his new role at the end of this month, was reportedly praised by Trump supporters for uncovering problems with the FBI’s handling of its probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Meanwhile, the fate of the CFPB hinges on a looming decision from a federal appeals court. Judges temporarily halted Vought’s efforts to lay off employees, but are now considering the Trump administration’s appeal over its plans for the agency.