D.E. Shaw’s largest multi-strategy funds saw outsized returns in 2024, prompting the $65 billion hedge fund firm to return billions in profits to its outside investors.

Riding a wave of positive gains across systematic, hybrid and discretionary investment strategies, reports of the investment gains come as the rise of volatility in November proved challenging to some hedge funds.

According to a person familiar with the firm’s results, the long-standing D.E. Shaw Composite Fund returned over 18% in 2024, while the D.E. Shaw Oculus Fund saw a return of 36.1%. The estimated net returns are preliminary, but approximately half of Composite and Oculus 2024 profits will go back to investors.

The news comes as a recent analysis from fund administrator Citco revealed that multi-strategy managers saw the most demand among investors in 2024, adding $5.7 billion in net new capital over the course of the year.

Both D.E. Shaw’s funds have enjoyed popularity even as they remain closed to new capital.

D.E. Shaw’s Composite fund’s returns are 12.7% on a net annualized basis since its 2001 inception. The largest of the firm’s multi-strategy offerings, the fund invests in the broadest range alternative strategies across asset classes and geographies. The investment team has only had one down year in the fund’s history.

The Oculus fund was launched in 2004 and employs a macro-oriented approach built off the back of the firm’s long-running analytical and quantitative approach toward investing. Oculus has had an annualized net return of approximately 13.7% since inception.

This past year was one of expansion at the New York firm. Officials moved to new offices in Manhattan, in addition to launching a new credit offering with $1 billion in November.