FAIRFIELD, Iowa, July 16, 2008– Managed futures continue to perform strongly in 2008, gaining 1.89% in June according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The Barclay CTA Index has risen 8.88% in the first six months of 2008.
“The same trends responsible for increasing bearish sentiment in the financial markets have in many cases opened the door to profits for momentum-based futures traders,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Traders have found opportunities in declining stock prices, rising inflation, U.S. Dollar weakness and higher commodity prices.”
All of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices had positive returns in June. The Barclay Agricultural Traders Index jumped 4.58%, Diversified Traders gained 3.46%, and Systemic Traders were up 2.10%.
“Heavy rains and flooding have reduced crop yields in the U.S., driving prices higher and giving a boost to CTAs trading the agricultural markets,” says Waksman.
Barclay’s Diversified Traders Index has gained 15.85% during the first six months of 2008.
“Diversified traders have been able to benefit from a confluence of sustained trends in several of the major market sectors,” says Waksman.
“Traders usually don’t have these many profitable opportunities occurring simultaneously. Consequently, we are seeing in increase in fund launches in the commodity sector.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, rose 2.10% in June, and is up 8.34% year to date.
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 more 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 6,800 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 Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.