Multistrategy hedge fund returns across the industry’s largest platforms diverged sharply in the first half of 2026, with Point72 leading the pack at 14.5% while peers Millennium and Schonfeld posted more modest but still solid gains, according to people close to each manager, as reported by Business Insider.
Multistrategy Hedge Fund Returns: The Half-Year Scorecard
Steve Cohen’s Point72 gained 3.4% in June alone, lifting its year-to-date figure to 14.5%, a person close to the firm said. That puts it well ahead of the S&P 500’s roughly 10% gain for the first half of the year.
Millennium, run by Izzy Englander, rose 4.1% in June, bringing its first-half return to 10.5%, a person close to the fund said. Schonfeld’s flagship fund added 2.5% in June for a first-half total of 8.4%, according to a person close to that manager. Schonfeld’s equity-focused vehicle performed better still: its Fundamental Equities fund is up 12.3% for the first half after a 3.6% gain last month, a person close to the manager said. All three firms declined to comment.
The spread between Point72’s 14.5% and Schonfeld’s flagship 8.4% illustrates how multistrategy hedge fund returns, even within the same broad category, can vary considerably when portfolio construction and risk allocation differ.
The Market Backdrop Behind the Numbers
The funds were carried in part by an extraordinary second quarter for equities. The S&P 500 rose 15% in Q2 2026, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 surged 28% over the same period. Nasdaq’s Q2 2026 review noted that both indices recorded their best quarter since Q2 2020, with the Nasdaq 100 posting its second-best quarterly performance in 25 years. The rally was driven by technology and AI momentum, strong corporate earnings, expanding margins, an easing of the US-Iran conflict, and a bullish reversal in the US dollar.
The earnings picture reinforced the move. FactSet’s Q2 2026 earnings season preview estimates the S&P 500 will report year-over-year earnings growth of 23.3% for the quarter, up from an 18.8% projection at the start of the period on 31 March, alongside revenue growth of 12.2%, up from 9.5%.
Investors began pricing in a resolution to the Iran conflict at the very end of March, creating a market bottom that coincided almost exactly with the start of a new quarter. That timing proved highly favourable for funds with significant equity exposure.
The IPO of SpaceX added a further catalyst. The company had confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 1 April 2026, targeting a potential valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion and an estimated raise of around $75 billion, which would be roughly three times the size of the largest prior US IPO on record, according to Nexus Alert. A preliminary prospectus was subsequently filed with the SEC, though the offering price, size, and implied valuation were left as placeholders in the document, per a structured summary by ABI Analytics.
The listing generated broad market attention and positioned equity-heavy strategies to benefit from the sentiment it carried.
For the multistrategy firms, the Q2 surge offset a choppier start to the year. The S&P 500 finished the first half up close to 10%, meaning the index itself outpaced some flagship fund returns. Managers with dedicated equity sleeves, such as Schonfeld’s Fundamental Equities vehicle, fared better by leaning into the quarter’s directional move.
The full picture of multistrategy hedge fund returns across the wider industry will come into focus as more managers report. For now, the gap between Point72’s 14.5% and the broader index return of roughly 10% sets a benchmark that other large-scale platforms will be measured against when their own figures emerge.