- Ken Griffin suggested holding cash was the best move in the midst of last month’s trade chaos.
- Still, his firm was able to notch a positive return in April.
Hedge fund icon Ken Griffin said he thinks the best move amid the chaos of President Donald Trump’s trade war last month would have been to simply hold cash.
“In retrospect, perhaps holding cash would’ve been the best way to navigate this,” The Citadel founder told Bloomberg. “But that’s so contrary to our culture of always trying to be on the offense, always trying to find ways to create value in the markets.”
Remaining on the sidelines while the markets swooned may seem obvious in hindsight, but the hedge fund billionaire conceded that investing in April was highly difficult, with tariffs jolting stocks and bonds before the administration shifted its policy. Stocks have since erased the tariff-induced losses, but the path since April 2 has been rocky.
“It’s been a really difficult time for fundamental investors because so much of the value of the companies that we invest in is being dictated by very quickly changing policies from Washington,” Griffin said.
Still, some investors did their best to navigate the tariff storm. Big-name funds avoid losses, including Citadel. Despite his cautious remarks, Citadel’s flagship fund reported a gain of 1.3% through the month. Meanwhile, the firm’s global fixed income fund returned 4.6%.