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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, February 18, 2009– Following a 14.11% gain in 2008, managed futures slipped 0.13% in January according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“After a very successful three-month run at the end of 2008, most CTAs had trouble getting traction in 2009,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
The Agricultural Traders Index lost 0.42% in January, Systematic Traders were down 0.36%, and Diversified Traders slipped 0.24%.
“Interest rates, stock indexes and crude oil prices were moving back and forth rather than trending during January, creating problems for many managed futures strategies.”
The Barclay Discretionary Traders Index gained 1.28% to start the year, and was the only profitable managed futures strategy in the month of January.
“Discretionary traders rely on judgment and market savvy to make trading decisions, in contrast to the trend-following momentum strategies employed by most CTAs.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 0.10% in January following a 12.87% return for 2008.
Click here to view 28 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For quotes, commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.
BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,000 hedge funds, funds 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 BarclayHedge data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
