If you thought Q1 2025 was rough, you’re not alone.

Wall Street has been on a rollercoaster ride thanks to President Trump’s whiplash-inducing tariff policies.

Tech stocks tanked, the S&P 500 dipped into correction territory, and investors spent the quarter with one eye on the news and the other on their portfolios.

But amid all that chaos, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management did what most couldn’t: rise by a whole 9%.

Wait, What Happened?

AQR’s flagship Apex Multi-Strategy fund posted a +9% return in Q1; yes, during one of the most volatile quarters in recent memory.

In March alone, Apex added +3.4%, putting it far ahead of the broader market. Just for perspective:

• S&P 500 is down 4.6%.
• Nasdaq Composite dropped down 10.4%.
• AQR Apex is up 9%.

Talk about zigging while the market zags.

But What’s Their Secret Sauce?

The Apex fund is multi-strategy, meaning that it’s not just betting on stocks. It blends:

• Equity trades.
• Macro bets (think interest rates, currencies, geopolitical plays).
• Arbitrage strategies (these are like buying a stock and shorting its overvalued peer).

This diversified approach helps reduce risk when one area of the market goes haywire, which it did in Q1.

But it wasn’t just Apex doing well:

• Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy gained 9.7%
• Helix, their trend-following strategy, returned 3%

This tells us that AQR wasn’t just lucky, they were strategically positioned to navigate uncertainty.

What Does AQR Hold?

AQR is famously tight-lipped about individual holdings (and fair enough because it is part of the edge), but we know they lean heavily on:

• Quantitative models to identify mispricings.
• Factor investing (such as value, momentum, quality, etc.).
• Hedging techniques that can protect on the downside.

So instead of chasing hot stocks, they’re scanning the entire market for small edges, and compounding them smartly.

It is Your Business, Apparently

In today’s environment of political risk, inflation fears, and tech sector volatility, multi-strategy hedge funds like AQR offer something the average retail investor craves; consistency and downside protection.

Sure, hedge funds aren’t accessible to everyone, but AQR’s performance proves there are still managers out there who can outperform when it counts.

And if you’re an investor wondering what strategies to look out for right now? Consider:

• Macro plays: Microplays are the best for unpredictable markets.
• Long/short equity, which involves smart stock picking when indexes are dropping.
• Trend-following: In chaotic times, ride the momentum to gain ahead.

While many funds got slammed in Q1, Cliff Asness and AQR pulled off a win by sticking to a data-driven, diversified approach.

As the rest of the market tries to regroup, AQR is showing that smart strategy still beats market noise.