.svg)
FAIRFIELD, Iowa, August 18, 2010– Managed futures gained 0.09% in July according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the Barclay CTA Index has lost 0.91%.
“As market participants moved from a risk-avoidance posture to a more risk-seeking strategy in July, many traders were caught on the wrong side of a rally in global commodities,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Even with the negative impact of commodity losses on portfolio returns, July provided its fair share of profitable trades for CTAs.”
“The rally in wheat amid fears of shortages in Russia captured the attention of the press and drove prices 30 percent higher. If you got the wheat trade right, then it was a very good month.”
Six of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices had a positive return in July. Currency Traders gained 0.64%, Discretionary Traders were up 0.52%, Agricultural Traders gained 0.51%, and Financial & Metals Traders rose 0.31%.
“The continuing rally in bond prices and an across-the-board weakening of the US Dollar against G-10 currencies during July provided profitable trend trading opportunities for portfolios invested in those sectors, ” says Waksman.
The Diversified Traders Index lost 0.17% in July. The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, was down 0.77% in July.
Click here to view 30 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.
BarclayHedge was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 5,700 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Each month Barclay provides updated performance rankings for 38 Hedge Fund categories and 16 CTA categories.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
