Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Bridgewater Associates
The Westport, Connecticut, macro manager that Ray Dalio started in 1975 as a research and hedging-advice shop and turned into the largest hedge fund firm in the world on two trading ideas that are now industry templates: separating alpha from beta (Pure Alpha, 1991), a diversified global-macro book that targets a fixed volatility and holds no persistent market exposure, and balancing risk across economic environments (All Weather, 1996), the original risk-parity portfolio, which levers bonds and inflation-linked bonds until each asset class contributes similar risk. For the trading side of this knowledge base Bridgewater is two systems and their weather. Pure Alpha made ~+9.5% in 2008 and ~+45% in 2010 (reported), went almost flat through the 2010s, lost about 20% in Q1 2020 and ended 2020 down 12.6% (Pure Alpha II) (Institutional Investor, May 2021, reported), rose ~32% in H1 2022 but finished 2022 up only 9.4%, fell 7.6% in 2023 and then posted ~+33–34% in 2025 (all reported, from people familiar with the funds). All Weather, the risk-parity system, lost about 22% in 2022 (10%-volatility version; Fortune, Apr 2024, reported) when stocks and bonds fell together, its worst year. The firm is also profiled from the finance side in Finance: Bridgewater Associates; this profile takes the trading angle and shares its dates and AUM figures.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1975, New York City, by Ray Dalio; later Wilton and then Westport, Connecticut (Finance profile; Dalio, Principles, 2017)
- Headquarters
- Westport, Connecticut; offices in New York, Shanghai and elsewhere (reported)
- Ownership / structure
- Private limited partnership; employee-owned after Dalio's staged sale, completed in 2025; the Brunei Investment Agency took a stake reported at nearly 20% via newly issued shares in 2025 (reported, verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Nir Bar Dea, CEO (co-CEO Jan 2022, sole CEO 2023); co-CIOs Bob Prince, Greg Jensen and Karen Karniol-Tambour (reported; Finance profile)
- Type
- Global macro hedge fund (Pure Alpha) and risk-parity "beta" manager (All Weather); alpha overlays; onshore China funds; a machine-learning macro fund (from Jul 2024)
- Clients
- Public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, endowments; ~300 investors in 2020, down from ~350 (Bloomberg via Fortune, Sep 2020, reported)
- Scale (dated, reported)
- Firm AUM peaked ~$150–160bn (2018–19); ~$148bn in Aug 2020 (Bloomberg via Fortune); ~$92bn end-Sep 2025 (Finance profile; reported); Pure Alpha ~$80bn and a ~13.5% average annual return since 1991 at early 2014 (NYT via CNBC, Mar 2014, reported) — firm AUM is investor capital, not gross notional
- Regulators
- SEC (registered investment adviser); CFTC/NFA (commodity trading adviser and pool operator); China's AMAC for the onshore private-fund manager (reported, verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- The 1982 depression call and near-collapse; Pure Alpha (1991); All Weather (1996); the 2008 crisis year; Principles (2011, brief); the 2020 COVID drawdown; the 2022 inflation shock that split Pure Alpha from All Weather; the Bar Dea reset and machine-learning fund (2023–24); Dalio's exit and the 2025 record year
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1982
Depression Call and Near Failure
Founding / large trade or position / loss response (failure)
1991
Pure Alpha Launch and Alpha Beta Separation
Fund launch / new strategy
1996
All Weather and Risk Parity
New strategy / system (a beta portfolio)
2008
Crisis Year Deleveraging Positioning
Large trade or position (crisis positioning)
2011
Principles and Radical Transparency
Risk and decision system (management culture made public)
2020
COVID Drawdown and Model Overhaul
Loss, drawdown and response (failure)
2022
Inflation Shock Pure Alpha vs All Weather
Regime test of two systems (gain in one, loss in the other); large positions
2023
Bar Dea Reset and Machine Learning Fund
Restructuring / technology bet (machine learning) / capacity limit
2025
Dalio Exit and Record Year
Ownership change / outcome of the macro book