Explore Best Performing Hedge Funds: 10 Years Top Picks. Discover how the biggest funds made their money and learn how LevelFields can help you.
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April 29, 2025
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Hedge funds have long been the playground of the ultra-wealthy and institutional investors, promising outsized returns, sophisticated risk management, and access to strategies unavailable to the average investor.
While some funds have lived up to the hype and have delivered market-beating returns over extended periods, others have crumbled under pressure and exposed investors to significant risks.
For those serious about wealth preservation and growth, understanding which hedge funds have consistently outperformed over the past decade isn't just interesting — it’s essential.
The past ten years have seen everything from economic booms to pandemic-induced crashes, crypto bubbles, and inflationary shocks. Yet, certain funds have thrived, generating stellar returns even in turbulent markets.
In this article, we’ll explore the best-performing hedge funds of the last decade to better see what investors like you can learn from them.
These top-performing hedge funds have consistently outpaced the broader market in delivering exceptional returns to their investors.
Their success can be attributed to their specialized investment strategies, rigorous research, and disciplined risk management practices.
Many of them also employ event-driven investing strategies that maximize profits significantly.
Here are the key details on the most successful hedge funds and their average annual returns:
Managed by Haidar Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund firm, Haidar Jupiter Fund focuses on a high-conviction, highly leveraged macro strategy.
It has delivered an impressive 20.7% average annual return over the past five years.
The Millstreet Credit Fund is managed by Millstreet Capital Management, a Boston-based alternative investment firm.
The firm specializes in credit-focused strategies, including distressed debt and structured credit.
Over the past five years, it has achieved a 20.6% average annual return.
Founded by activist investor Bill Ackman, this New York-based firm manages several hedge funds. It's best known for taking large, concentrated positions and engaging in activist campaigns to drive change at portfolio companies.
Its flagship Pershing Square fund has delivered a 26.1% average annual return over the past five years.
Managed by legendary investor Lee Ainslie, the Maverick Funds focus on long-biased equity strategies.
There are two types. The first is the Maverick Long Enhanced Fund, which has 24.3% average annual returns over five years.
The second is the Maverick Long Fund, which has netted 23.8% average annual returns over the last five years.
Founded by "tiger cub" Stephen Mandel, this Connecticut-based firm manages several hedge funds. Across all of them, it is known for its concentrated, high-conviction bets on growth stocks.
Over the past five years, it has achieved a 23.5% average annual return.
Managed by Coatue Management, a technology-focused hedge fund based in New York, this fund has delivered a 22.9% average annual return over the past five years.
It specializes in investing in innovative, disruptive companies in the tech and internet sectors.
Viking Global Equities is the flagship fund of Viking Global Investors, a prominent hedge fund firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut
Over the past five years, it has achieved a 22.6% average annual return.
It is known for its bottom-up, fundamental, research-driven approach to equity investing.
Founded by Gabe Plotkin, this New York-based hedge fund firm manages several funds.
It gained notoriety for its high-profile short position against GameStop, which resulted in significant losses in 2021.
However, over the past five years, it has still performed relatively well, with a 22.5% average annual return.
Managed by a Boston-based hedge fund firm that focuses on growth equity and technology investments, the Whale Rock Capital Management fund has delivered a 21.9% average annual return over five years.
It is known for its concentrated, high-conviction bets on innovative, disruptive companies.
These top-performing hedge funds have demonstrated an exceptional ability to generate consistent, market-beating returns over the long term, primarily through their expertise in equity-focused strategies.
However, it's important to note that past performance does not guarantee future results, and these funds have also experienced periods of significant volatility and drawdowns.
The hedge fund industry comprises firms managing vast amounts of assets, each employing unique investment strategies to achieve their objectives.
Below is an overview of some of the top hedge funds by assets under management (AUM):
Founded by Ray Dalio in 1975 and headquartered in Westport, Connecticut, Bridgewater Associates has generated approximately $171.7 billion in AUM (as of January 2025).
It is renowned for its macroeconomic approach, which focuses on global macro investing and utilizes risk parity strategies to balance risk across various asset classes.
Renaissance Technologies was founded by Jim Simons in 1982, and it is headquartered in East Setauket, New York.
As of August 2024, it has generated approximately $89.2 billion in AUM.
It is known for its quantitative and systematic trading strategies that employ complex mathematical models to identify market inefficiencies.
With its headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut, AQR Capital Management was founded by Cliff Asness, David Kabiller, John Liew, and Robert Krail in 1998.
Its unique approach to investing integrates quantitative and fundamental approaches in offering strategies across equities, fixed income, and alternative investments, including managed futures and risk parity.
This has resulted in approximately $132.5 billion in AUM (as of February 2025).
Two Sigma was founded by John Overdeck, David Siegel, Mark Pickard in 2001, and headquartered in New York.
Leveraging technology and data science to drive its investment strategies, it focuses on systematic trading across various asset classes.
As of January 2025, it has generated approximately $83.9 billion in AUM.
Founded by Israel Englander in 1989, Millennium Management employs a global multi-strategy approach in investing across asset classes such as equities, fixed income, commodities, and currencies.
It utilizes both fundamental and quantitative analyses and has generated approximately $505.9 billion in AUM (as of February 2025).
It is headquartered in New York.
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Over the past decade, several hedge funds have consistently delivered exceptional returns. Notable among them are:
These funds have leveraged diverse strategies, from quantitative trading to macroeconomic analysis, to achieve superior returns.
Below are hedge funds with strong performance over the past decade, ranked by estimated 10-year annualized returns or notable gains, based on available data. Note that exact 10-year returns are rarely reported, so I include 3–5-year returns and lifetime performance where relevant.
Caveats: Tech-heavy strategy vulnerable to sector downturns (e.g., 2022).
The title of the most successful hedge fund performance often goes to Renaissance Technologies' Medallion Fund.
Since its inception, the Medallion Fund has reportedly generated annualized returns of around 66% before fees and 39% after fees, making it one of the most profitable hedge funds ever. Its success is attributed to sophisticated mathematical models and algorithms that capitalize on market inefficiencies.
Citadel, founded by Ken Griffin in 1990, is often highlighted for its substantial cumulative returns.
As of recent reports, Citadel has generated approximately $74 billion in net gains since its inception, making it one of the most successful hedge funds in terms of total dollar gains for investors.
Determining the "greatest" hedge fund depends on the criteria used, such as total returns, consistency, assets under management, and impact on the industry.
Bridgewater Associates, founded by Ray Dalio, is often cited due to its status as the world's largest hedge fund firm, managing approximately $122 billion as of early 2017. Its flagship Pure Alpha fund has delivered significant returns over decades, solidifying its reputation in the industry.
Each of these hedge funds has set benchmarks in the industry through innovative strategies, consistent performance, and substantial wealth creation for their investors.
Hedge fund managers frequently partner with pension funds and private equity firms to gain exposure across the stock market and alternative investments. These collaborations often involve sharing advanced mathematical and statistical methods to optimize portfolio performance and manage risk. It's also common for one hedge fund manager to co-invest with another hedge fund firm, combining strategic insights and capital to pursue high-return opportunities.
It's complicated and varied between hedge funds. There are several primary ways. One way is through event-driven investing which LevelFields is democratizing for retail investors. Large hedge funds also leverage their trades, meaning they borrow 10-100 times their holdings so they can place bigger bets in the market using the bank's money. When it goes well, they do very well. When it does not do well, they could blow up their entire fund.
Some hedge funds also deploy quantitative trading or rules-based trading, which takes the human element out of the equation. Since humans are prone to assess risk poorly and overreact, rules-based investing is proven to create greater returns.
A number of hedge funds ascribe to the theory of value investing. Similar to Warren Buffet and his mentor Benjamin Graham, these funds look for undervalued companies where the risk/reward is skewed towards reward.
Finally, a set of hedge funds are activist investors. These managers don't just invest in companies, they also try to influence their operations by improving profits, cutting costs, and using their influence to get better deals with vendors or suppliers. Bill Ackman is a famous activist investor. Their moves and strategies can be monitoring and mirrored and the best activists have been shown to significantly outperform the S&P 500.
It varies wildly. The big funds deal almost exclusively with institutional investors. For certain smaller hedge funds, the minimum investment is usually $1 million but new AI-centered hedge funds are popping up that manage smaller amounts of money - with $100,000 minimums. However, all investors have to be accredited investors per SEC regulations in order to invest in a hedge fund.
An accredited investor has a net worth over $1 million excluding their home, or makes at least $300,000 in income when combined with their spouse.
Some wealth managers deploy value-driven strategies that mirror those of hedge funds. And younger, more tech-savvy wealth managers are embracing new technologies and AI investing tools that enable wealth managers to manage investments with the savviness of a hedge fund.
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