Wall Street Titans Griffin, Cohen, Englander Outmatched As Smaller Hedge Funds Steal The Limelight

Billionaires Ken Griffin, Steve Cohen, and Izzy Englander are used to setting the pace on Wall Street. But in May, their flagship hedge funds were quietly outclassed — not by each other, but by a scrappy group of lesser-known rivals who are suddenly the ones posting scoreboard-worthy returns.

The Wellington fund, part of investment firm Citadel LLC led by Griffin, edged up just 0.2% in May, bringing its 2025 gains to a modest 0.8%. Cohen's Point72 fared slightly better with a 0.9% gain, now up 3.9% on the year, reported Business Insider. Millennium, the $73 billion fund run by Englander, is up just 0.4% year to date.

Meanwhile, the real fireworks were happening among the underdogs. AQR Capital's Apex fund surged 2.4% in May, pushing its 2025 performance to a scorching 10.6%. Dymon Asia, a $3 billion multistrat with teams across Asia and the Middle East, delivered a 3.3% return, bringing its yearly tally to 8%. Even Michael Gelband's ExodusPoint — often seen as Millennium's upstart cousin — now sits at 7.5% YTD after a solid 1% gain last month.

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These aren't one-off wins. Walleye, Schonfeld, LMR, and Man Group's 1783 fund all quietly outpaced the billionaire giants too — each comfortably above 4.5% for the year.

Sure, Citadel and Millennium deserve credit for limiting losses during the rougher market patches of March and April. But when the S&P 500 rebounded with a 6.2% gain in May — its best single month since November 2023 — the big dogs barely moved, their cautious stance costing them dearly on the upside.

The takeaway?

In 2025's whiplash market, it's not just about risk management — it's about agility. And the billionaires’ big machines are suddenly looking a step slow compared to the leaner, hungrier contenders.

The multistrategy elite might still own the headlines. But this year, it's the middleweights who are punching above their weight class — and landing knockouts.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.