AQR Capital Management: Platform Profile

Overview

AQR Capital Management, LLC is a quantitative investment manager spanning traditional long-only and alternative strategies.

Current identity:

• Legal adviser: AQR Capital Management, LLC
• CRD: 111883
• SEC number: 801-55543
• SEC registered investment adviser: Yes
• Headquarters: Greenwich, Connecticut

AQR describes its investment process as operating at the intersection of economics, behavioral finance, data and technology.

May fit better for

• institutions seeking systematic alternative strategies;
• investors evaluating quantitative long/short or macro approaches;
• investors who want a manager with both registered and private investment structures;
• eligible retail clients seeking quantitative equity SMAs through an adviser channel;
• users comfortable with model-driven portfolio construction;
• investors who can keep product-level terms separate from manager-level descriptions.

May fit less well for

• users looking for a public trading app;
• investors seeking direct cryptocurrency investing through AQR;
• users who assume every AQR strategy is a private hedge fund;
• investors who want one universal minimum or fee schedule;
• users who treat regulatory AUM as identical to private-fund capital;
• investors who prefer purely discretionary security selection.

AQR began with a hedge fund but is now broader than hedge funds

AQR was founded in 1998 by Cliff Asness, David Kabiller, Robert Krail and John Liew.

First-party history states:

• Founded: 1998
• First product was hedge fund: Yes
• First long only product: 2000
• Mutual fund entry: 2009
• UCITS entry: 2012

The current platform includes traditional long-only and alternatives spanning equity, macro, arbitrage and multi-strategy solutions.

Current regulatory AUM is approximately $312B

Form ADV filings show:

• Regulatory AUM: $312B
• Regulatory AUM as of: 2026-08-27
• Discretionary share: 100%

The current public Form-ADV aggregator display rounds the regulatory measure to approximately $312B.

Store the dated regulatory figure as a regulatory measure.

AQR's public alternatives platform is strategy-diverse

AQR's current materials identify alternative capabilities that include:

• arbitrage;
• equity market neutral;
• global macro;
• long/short equity;
• managed futures;
• multi-strategy.

These labels describe capabilities. They do not mean every AQR account holds every strategy.

Retail AQR access can occur through equity SMAs

The March 31, 2026 Form CRS states that AQR's retail advisory services are limited to equity portfolios through separately managed accounts.

Current retail disclosures show:

• Retail SMA: Yes
• Retail SMA equity only: Yes
• Retail SMA typical minimum: $1M
• Retail SMA fee: typically up to 2.5% annually
• Retail SMA discretionary authority: Yes
• Retail SMA assets in AQR sponsored funds: No

The fee varies with factors such as strategy, household assets and assets invested by an adviser across AQR products.

AQR also offers registered long/short funds

AQR Long-Short Equity Fund is an SEC-registered mutual fund using systematic long and short stock positions.

Current September 4, 2026 fund disclosures show:

• AQR Long Short Equity Fund AUM: $8.774B
• AQR Long Short Equity Fund closed to new investors effective: 2026-06-19
• Closure subject to exceptions: Yes
• Registered fund: Yes

The fund uses hundreds of signals and seeks moderate market exposure.

This product does not establish the terms of AQR's private funds.

AQR does not operate a public trading app or direct crypto service

Current first-party fraud warning:

• Public trading platform: No
• Mobile app: No
• Direct crypto investments: No
• Public investment training courses: No

A website, app or social-media account claiming to provide those services on AQR's behalf should not be treated as evidence of an AQR offering.

The current 13F is not AQR's complete portfolio

AQR's Q2 2026 Form 13F identifies AQR Capital Management LLC with CRD 111883 and SEC file 801-55543.

AQR's derivatives, shorts, currencies and other non-13F exposures can be economically material.

Firmwide private-fund terms remain undisclosed

Assessment

The central AQR distinction is not simply hedge fund versus non-hedge fund.

AQR began with a hedge fund, but the present firm spans private strategies, registered mutual funds and retail separately managed accounts. A $1M SMA minimum is therefore an SMA term. A mutual-fund expense ratio is a fund term. Neither becomes the price of investing in an AQR private fund.

The second distinction is scale. The $312B figure is regulatory AUM, not a claim that AQR has $312B of hedge-fund investor NAV.