Bridgewater Associates is on a roll this year. Four of the macro hedge fund giant’s funds posted strong results in the third quarter as well as for the year so far.
Through September 29, the firm’s flagship Pure Alpha 18% volatility fund was up 8.1 percent over the past three months and 26.2 percent for the year, according to someone who has seen the results. This makes it one of the top-performing macro funds this year.
The All Weather strategy rose 6.7 percent for the quarter and 15.3 percent for the year.
In a regulatory filing, Bridgewater describes Pure Alpha as its “optimal alpha,” which seeks to generate high returns with no bias to markets or other managers. All Weather is its “optimal beta strategy,” which aims to capture the risk premiums embedded in assets by balancing its exposure to the primary drivers of market volatility.
Bridgewater’s two China funds have also had strong years. Asia Total Return gained 12.1 percent in the third quarter and 32.5 percent for the year, making it the firm’s best performer. China Total Return was up 15.7 percent and 28.4 percent for the quarter and the year, respectively.
Bridgewater, which managed $92.1 billion at year-end 2024, has generated strong returns for several years. In 2024, Pure Alpha climbed 11.3 percent, the China fund jumped 35 percent, and Asia Total Return gained 10.4 percent.
Bridgewater’s surge can be traced, in part, to an overhaul of the management team. In 2022, Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini were named co–chief executive officers. Bar Dea then led a major restructuring in 2023. At that time, Bertolini stepped down as co-CEO and became an independent director. Today Bar Dea leads the firm with co-CIOs Greg Jensen, Karen Karniol-Tambour, and Bob Prince.
Founder Ray Dalio has not been involved in investment decision-making since 2022 and has not been an owner of Bridgewater since last July.
