FAIRFIELD, IOWA

The managed futures industry stepped into 2020 on a positive note with a 0.51% return in January, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. It was the third consecutive profitable month for CTAs.

“The coronavirus outbreak was a double-edged sword for traders in January, dragging oil prices down over concerns of reduced demand while boosting gold and Treasury bonds as investors sought defensive options,” said Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge. “Similarly, the cryptocurrency market benefited with bitcoin enjoying its best January since 2013.”

All but two CTA sectors were in positive territory for January. The Cryptocurrency Traders Index took the lead with a gain of 20.18%. Other January gainers included the Financial & Metal Traders Index, up 0.91%, Systematic Traders Index, gaining 0.74%, the Currency Traders Index, returning 0.64%, and the Diversified Traders Index, up 0.55%.

In the loss column, the Discretionary Traders Index was down 0.20% in January and the Agricultural Traders Index slipped 0.03%.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which tracks the performance of the largest CTAs that are still open for new investment, returned 0.29% in January.

For a complete table of Barclay CTA Index results as well as historical data, click here.

About Backstop Solutions

Backstop’s mission is to help the institutional investment industry use time to its fullest potential. We develop technology to simplify and streamline otherwise time-consuming tasks and processes, enabling our clients to quickly and easily access, share and manage the knowledge that’s critical to their day-to-day business success. Backstop provides its industry-leading cloud-based productivity suite to investment consultants, pensions, funds of funds, family offices, endowments, foundations, private equity, hedge funds and real estate investment firms.

BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop, currently maintains data on more than 7,100 hedge funds, funds of funds, and CTAs. The BarclayHedge Indices are utilized by institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Sol Waksman 

BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions Group 

(641) 472-3456