Walleye dominated August. Here's how its $4.8 billion multistrategy fund stacked up against the industry's biggest names.

• Walleye's multistrategy fund was up 3.4% in August, a turbulent month for equity markets.
• The firm is now up 11.4% for the year, besting larger rivals like Citadel and Millennium.
• The S&P 500 gained 2.3% in August but started the month with a big sell-off and was down more than 7% at one point.

Walleye rode its stockpickers and algorithms to its best month of the year in a turbulent August.

A person close to the manager said the firm was up 3.4% last month in its $4.8 billion multi-strategy fund, pushing its 2024 gains to 11.3%. All four strategies that feed into this fund — fundamental equity, quant, volatility, and tactical, which includes some macro-like strategies — were up last month, this person said.

The firm's volatility strategies, which go back to the firm's roots as a proprietary options market-making operation in Minnesota, were a key part in helping the fund weather the rocky markets at the start of August, this person added.

The S&P 500 finished August up 2.3%, but it was a roller coaster of a month for stockpickers. The index fell precipitously at the start of August thanks to turmoil in Japanese markets and investor unease around US economic data; at one point, it was down more than 7% before finishing the month near its all-time high.

Walleye's fund paced the multi-strategy universe last month, though the firm is much smaller than its largest rivals. The manager is closed to new capital commitments right now and expects to be at $5 billion by the fourth quarter, the person close to the firm said.

Schonfeld's flagship fund continues to outperform other hedge funds in 2024, returning 11.9% so far this year, a person close to the firm told Business Insider. The firm's smaller Fundamental Equity fund meanwhile is up 11.7% for the year after a 0.7% gain in August.

Meanwhile, Ken Griffin's flagship fund, Wellington, at $63 billion Citadel, was up 1% in August. The gain brought the Miami-based firm's returns to 9.9% for the year, and all five major strategies — equities, quant, commodities, credit, and macro — are positive for the year.

The firm's smaller funds also had strong months. The Tactical Trading fund — which includes strategies from the firm's stock-picking and quant businesses — returned 1.5% last month, boosting its 2024 returns to 14.5%.

Meanwhile, Citadel's fund that pulls in strategies from its four human-run, stock-picking units — Global Equities, Ashler, Surveyor, and International Equities — is up 9.3% through 2024's first eight months after a 0.8% gain in August.

Izzy Englander's Millennium was up 0.7% last month, bringing the firm's returns to 8.1% for the year.

ExodusPoint continues to trail the pack, though had a solid August, notching gains of 0.9% in August. The firm is up 4.6% for 2024.

Managers either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

See below for return figures. It will be updated with additional firms' numbers as they are learned.