$50 billion D.E. Shaw's flagship fund posted a 10.5% return in 2019, besting the average hedge fund
- $50 billion manager D.E. Shaw posted returns of 10.5% for its flagship Composite fund in 2019, according to a source familiar with the matter.
- The firm's 16-year-old, macro-focused Oculus fund returned 11.8%, the source said.
- Both funds beat the average hedge fund, which returned more than 8%, according to Hedge Fund Research, but trailed well behind the overall stock market.
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D.E. Shaw, the $50 billion hedge-fund manager founded by computer scientist David Shaw, returned 10.5% in its flagship Composite fund in 2019, a source familiar with the firm's performance said.
That beat the average hedge fund, which returned just over 8% in 2019 according to Hedge Fund Research, but trailed the overall stock market, which returned more than 33% including dividends. The flagship fund nearly matched its 2018 returns of 11.2%.
The firm's macro-focused fund, Oculus, returned 11.8% last year, the source said.
D.E. Shaw's solid performance came in a year with a fair amount of internal turmoil over a decision to ask employees to sign non-compete agreements for the first time.
Business Insider reported in August that the firm improved the payout before the deadline to sign - a move insiders felt was done to encourage more people to agree to the contract.
The deadline for the non-competes, however, did not cause a mass exodus of talent.
The firm's flagship Composite fund includes computer-run and human-run components, and has been around since 2001. The fund has posted an annual return of 11.3% since its launch, while the Oculus fund has posted an annual return of 11.7% since its launch in 2004.