• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon

2

Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026

3

Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates

1

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon

2

Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026

3

Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
FinanceHedge Funds

Ray Dalio’s McDonald’s-Inspired Hedge Fund Is Crushing His Flagship Fund

By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 7, 2016, 4:30 PM ET
World Economic Forum - 2016
Photograph by David A.Grogan — CNBC/NBCU/Getty Images

Bridgewater Associates’ world’s largest hedge fund, run by Ray Dalio, is not only underperforming the market this year, but it’s lagging way behind another Bridgewater fund that basically runs itself.

Founded by Dalio in 1975, Bridgewater Associates is the biggest hedge fund firm on the planet with more than $150 billion in assets under management, and also runs the two largest individual hedge funds in the world, Pure Alpha and All Weather. The biggest, Bridgewater’s Pure Alpha, is also its most famous: With more than $62 billion in assets, Pure Alpha had made investors richer than any other hedge fund in history, reaping $45 billion in returns between its inception and the end of 2015, according to Bloomberg. This year, though, the fund has fallen 12% in the six months of the year—its worst first-half performance in more than 20 years, The Wall Street Journal reported. (It may also have lost additional money to investor withdrawals, as the fund’s assets fell even more, down 25% from the $82.3 billion in the fund at the end of last year.)

Meanwhile, Bridgewater’s All Weather fund is crushing it. Younger and once much smaller than Pure Alpha, All Weather now has more than $60.7 billion in assets, according to Preqin. The fund returned 10% in the first half of this year, more than double the 4% return of the S&P 500. The kicker? All Weather is a passive strategy similar to the way index funds and ETFs do not have active managers.

Rather than chase home runs like the actively managed Pure Alpha portfolio, All Weather is designed to “do reasonably well” no matter what happens in the market or the economy: It holds stocks, bonds, commodities, and several types of debt, balancing the allocations so that the risk is split evenly between the different types of assets, and so that the fund should make money whether the economy grows or contracts, or whether inflation rises or falls.

Interestingly, Dalio got the idea for the All Weather strategy from McDonald’s (MCD) after helping the company hedge its ingredient costs for Chicken McNuggets using similar principles. While other investors “might be surprised by inflation shifts or a growth bust,” Bridgewater writes in a research paper on its website, “All Weather would chug along, providing attractive, relatively stable returns.” That strategy, dubbed “risk parity,” is especially popular with pension funds.

It hasn’t always worked, of course. All Weather fell nearly 4% in 2013 during a banner year in which the overall stock market returned almost 30%, Fortune reported at the time.

Indeed, All Weather’s recent outperformance reverses the usual dynamic between the two funds. Pure Alpha has averaged annual returns of 13% since its inception, while All Weather has lagged with a 7.7% average return each year, according to CNBC. Last year, Pure Alpha was up 4.7%, while All Weather was down 7% (and the S&P 500 was essentially flat).

This year investors have turned away from high-flying momentum stocks like Netflix (NFLX) that powered much of the market’s returns in 2015, and instead bought defensive assets such as gold, dividend stocks, and “boring government bonds” as they search for yield and safety amid Brexit fears and other economic uncertainty. That trend has likely been good for the All Weather fund, with its high allocations towards bonds and other typically lower-risk assets. If interest rates were to rise however, as they eventually will, All Weather’s leveraged bond portfolio probably won’t do as well.

In any case, when you run the two biggest hedge funds in the world, you can probably still “chug along” just fine—even if the funds’ returns end up canceling each other out this year.

About the Author
By Jen Wieczner
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

scott
EconomySocial Security
‘We are rapidly running out of time’ Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
2 hours ago
The Gulf states are betting big on AI: who’s investing where?
Middle EastInvestment
The Gulf states are betting big on AI: who’s investing where?
By Melissa HancockJune 9, 2026
3 hours ago
Teenage boy on laptop
SuccessJobs
Around 22 million teenagers are making their pocket money on video games, online reselling, and in-game platforms like Roblox
By Emma BurleighJune 9, 2026
3 hours ago
View of the White House lawn and grounds
PoliticsWhite House
Lockheed, Palantir, and Amazon helped fund Trump’s White House ballroom. They also share more than $50 billion in federal contracts
By Catherina GioinoJune 9, 2026
3 hours ago
Traders sitting at computers react
InvestingStock
AI stocks are recovering after suddenly tanking last week as oil prices drop more than 3%
By Stan Choe and The Associated PressJune 9, 2026
3 hours ago
A for sale sign in front a Spanish style house
Real EstateHousing
Home sales are finally recovering and outpacing economists predictions even as mortgage rates remain high
By Alex Veiga and The Associated PressJune 9, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon
Environment
Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon
By Sasha RogelbergJune 8, 2026
22 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 8, 2026
1 day ago
Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
Success
Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
By Preston ForeJune 7, 2026
2 days ago
'We didn’t see this coming': Wall Street eats its forecasts as stocks sell off globally on fear of AI bubble ahead of SpaceX IPO
Economy
'We didn’t see this coming': Wall Street eats its forecasts as stocks sell off globally on fear of AI bubble ahead of SpaceX IPO
By Jim EdwardsJune 8, 2026
1 day ago
'The golden years are not golden': Boomers are hoarding most of America's wealth and power because they're terrified of outliving their money
Economy
'The golden years are not golden': Boomers are hoarding most of America's wealth and power because they're terrified of outliving their money
By Nick LichtenbergJune 7, 2026
2 days ago
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
19 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.