It's been a rough start to 2025 for quant hedge funds. Concentrated bets on heavily-favored US stocks have unwound badly, hammering returns across the sector and reigniting old worries about how unpredictable these algorithmic strategies can really be. When everyone's crowding into the same plays, crowded exits hit even harder—and this year's losses are a reminder of just how thin that margin is between momentum and meltdown. The volatility question keeps haunting quant traders: how sustainable are these returns when market conditions shift?