How big-name hedge funds did in a turbulent July

Wall Street traders in the New York Stock Exchange — Hedge funds’ portfolio managers had plenty of variables to deal with in a choppy July. NYSE

A busy July put many big-name hedge funds in the red to start the third quarter.

Izzy Englander’s Millennium lost 2.1% last month, a person close to the New York-based manager told Business Insider, pulling the firm’s 2026 returns to 8.2%.

Asia-based multimanagers Dymon Asia and Pinpoint fell 6.5% and 9%, respectively, last month as stock market jitters in Korea and Japanese economic woes wreaked havoc on the continent’s markets. People familiar with the two funds told Business Insider that July’s losses left Dymon and Pinpoint with gains of 7.5% and 6.3%, respectively, in 2026.

There was no summer slowdown last month for these funds’ legions of traders. Global equity markets struggled thanks to artificial intelligence skepticism, the conflict in Iran that has thrown energy markets into disarray continued, and the new Federal Reserve chairman presided over his first meeting.

But the biggest news was undoubtedly the end-of-the-month meltdown of Situational Awareness, a onetime $45 billion equity investor focused on AI companies. Run by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, the fund lost 67% in July, and margin calls forced the young manager to find a buyer for his public equity book to repay its lenders.

Citadel’s purchase of the bulk of the portfolio led to a market rebound, potentially helping salvage many equity-heavy firms’ July. The S&P 500 index was down only 0.1% in July, despite news of Citadel’s purchase, which sent tech stocks soaring.

The funds mentioned declined to comment. The table below will be updated as more returns are confirmed.

Bradley Saacks covers hedge funds and other asset managers for Business Insider from New York. He first wrote about the multi-trillion-dollar industry for Business Insider from New York in late 2018, after spending two years covering mutual funds for the Financial Times’ trade publication, Ignites.He left Business Insider for a little over a year, starting in mid-2022, and worked as a business reporter for Semafor, a media startup. He rejoined Business Insider in 2023, this time in the publication’s London office, and has since relocated back to New York. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism, he was the recipient of the O.J. Skipper Coffin Award, which is given to the top graduating senior in the reporting track.During his time at Business Insider, he has broken news on the biggest names in hedge funds, including Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group, and more. He is interested in telling stories about the people behind the scenes who are driving big changes at the biggest firms. He can be reached on WhatsApp and Signal at +1 919 816 5537.Notable stories include: