2 ETFs That Billionaire Ken Griffin Is Buying Hand Over Fist

Ken Griffin has made big bucks primarily from picking stocks for his Citadel Advisors hedge fund. His net worth stands at roughly $43 billion. Big bucks indeed.

However, Griffin's fortune doesn't stem exclusively from investing in individual stocks. The billionaire has also poured money into exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Here are two ETFs that Griffin is buying hand over fist.

Citadel's largest holding isn't a stock; it's an ETF. Griffin's hedge fund owned 5.6 million shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) valued at $3.05 billion as of June 30, 2024. This total was much lower three months earlier. Griffin bought around 2.03 million additional shares of the ETF in the second quarter of 2024, increasing Citadel's stake by 56.7%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust became the first ETF listed in the U.S. in January 1993. Today, it's the largest ETF based on assets under management (AUM) with assets of $603.7 billion. The SPDR ETF also ranks as one of the most actively traded ETF.

This ETF attempts to track the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Its top holdings include several of the largest companies around: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, and Google parent Alphabet.

Why does Griffin like this ETF so much? There are several likely reasons.

The billionaire is a fan of diversified portfolios, as evidenced by the 5,800+ holdings in Citadel's portfolio. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust provides an easy way to invest in the 500 biggest U.S. companies in one fell swoop.

This ETF has also been a big winner. Since its inception in 1993, the fund has delivered an average annual return of nearly 10.5%. In 2024 alone, it's up close to 23%.

Citadel's second-largest holding is also an ETF, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ). As of June 30, 2024, the hedge fund owned 3.3 million shares of the fund valued at $1.58 billion. And Griffin aggressively added to Citadel's position in the Invesco QQQ Trust in Q2, buying roughly 2.82 million shares that boosted his hedge fund's stake in the ETF by nearly 585%.

The Invest QQQ Trust ranks as the fifth-largest ETF based on AUM. Over the last three months, its average daily share volume trailed only the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

This ETF attempts to track the performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index. It owns shares of the 100 largest stocks traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The fund's top holdings include Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Broadcom), Meta Platforms, and Amazon.