What if you had copied Citadel Advisors?
Ken Griffin
The verdict
Copying Citadel Advisors's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $20,955, less than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $24,639 over the same days. The copy returned +11.6% a year against +14.4% for the S&P 500, 2.7 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 37.8%, from Feb 19, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 33.7%.
Copied Feb 18, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying Citadel Advisors$20,955
- S&P 500$24,639
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$23,890
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $23,890, so following every move cost $2,934.
- $10,000 copied
- $20,955
- +109.6%, +11.6% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $24,639
- +146.4%, +14.4% a year
- No trading
- $23,890
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −37.8%
- Feb 19, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020
- Trades
- 1,413
- 730 buys, 683 sales over 30 filings; about 224% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- NVDANVIDIA+$1,386
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 1,128%
- MUMicron Technology+$942
Held since Nov 2020, the stock up 282%
- AMZNAmazon.com+$597
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 40%
Held from May 2020 to May 2026, the stock up 114%
- AAPLApple+$495
Held since Aug 2020, the stock up 118%
- JPMJPMorgan Chase+$428
Held since Aug 2020, the stock up 202%
The moves that cost the most
- BABAAlibaba−$316
Held from Aug 2020 to Aug 2024, the stock down 66%
- NFLXNetflix−$244
Held since Feb 2020, the stock down 55%
- TSLATesla−$233
Held since Nov 2021, the stock down 23%
- CRMSalesforce−$190
Held from Nov 2020 to May 2026, the stock down 50%
Held since Aug 2026, the stock down 49%
- HUMHumana−$170
Held from May 2021 to May 2025, the stock down 45%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | +11.0% | +13.1% | −2.1 |
| 2021 | +20.5% | +28.7% | −8.3 |
| 2022 | −24.3% | −18.2% | −6.2 |
| 2023 | +29.2% | +26.2% | +3.0 |
| 2024 | +21.4% | +24.9% | −3.5 |
| 2025 | +12.7% | +17.7% | −5.1 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +17.2% | +11.5% | +5.7 |
A historical test on paper, before costs and taxes. It trades at the close of the first trading day after each filing comes out, up to 45 days after the quarter, and skips delisted companies, which flatters it.