The industry's September results are useful precisely because they refuse to form a single story. Fundamental equity long/short lost about 0.55%, while systematic equity long/short gained 3.46%, its best month of 2026, according to performance data reported by Reuters. Graham Quant Macro was up 5.36% for the month and 21.89% year to date; Tactical Trend gained 3.26% and stood near 31.16% for the year. In the multistrategy group, Citadel Wellington gained roughly 1.1% in September and 13.4% year to date, while Millennium was about flat for the month and 8.1% for the year. Reuters · Business Insider scorecard
The practical read is not “machines won.” September rewarded different exposures: cross-sectional dispersion, trend and macro movement helped systematic books while crowded discretionary longs and violent single-name reversals hurt parts of fundamental equity. Before comparing managers, separate directional beta, security selection, trend exposure and liquidity terms. The label on the strategy is not the risk model.