Flesh-and-Blood Hedge Fund Traders Prevailed in 2020’s Tumult

  • Some of industry’s well-known names made best returns in years
  • Algorithms failed to decipher impact of rapidly moving virus

Photographer: Sarinya Pinngam/EyeEm/Getty Images

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The pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear for hedge funds: Trading a once-in-a-century crisis is best left to humans.

Funds that survive largely on their ability to place high-conviction bets made some of their strongest returns in decades last year. Some of the industry’s best-known names such as Brevan Howard Asset Management, Millennium Management and Andurand Capital Management soared past peers as stormy markets provided rich pickings.