FAIRFIELD, Iowa, December 17, 2007– Managed futures rose 0.73% in November, according to flash estimates from the Barclay CTA Index.
“Many of the same factors that created losses in the hedge fund sector generated profits for CTAs in November,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Renewed fears of an economic slowdown coupled with a flight to quality helped drive bond prices higher in the U.S. and Europe. Trend-following strategies have been on the profitable side of these markets for several months.”
Seven of Barclay’s eight CTA indices were profitable in November. The Financial/Metal Traders Index gained 1.12%, the Systematic Traders rose 0.90%, Diversified Traders gained 0.86%, and Agricultural Traders, 0.76%.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, was the only losing strategy in November, falling 0.70%. The BTOP50 remains up 6.10% for the year.
The Barclay CTA Index is up 6.11% in 2007. This will be the eighth consecutive year of positive returns for the Index. Since 1980, the Barclay CTA Index has gained value in 25 out of 28 years.
The only years with negative returns were 1992, 1994 and 1999, with losses of 0.91%, 0.65% and 1.19% respectively.
The highest returns for the Index were in 1980, 1985 and 1987, with gains of 63.65%, 25.50% and 57.27%.
Click here to view 27 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Download 21 years of monthly data for the Barclay BTOP50 Index.
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, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.