FAIRFIELD, Iowa, July 17, 2012– Managed futures lost 1.81% overall in June according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 0.03% year to date.
“The month-end ECB agreement to make loans directly to eurozone banks drove prices in some of the major equity, currency, and commodity markets to their largest one-day moves of the year,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
On the negative side, Barclay Diversified Traders Index fell 2.89% in June, Systematic Traders lost 2.51%, and Financial & Metals Traders were down 0.56%.
“Momentum-based trend following traders typically take losses when markets reverse course sharply,” says Waksman.
On the positive side, Agricultural Traders gained 3.45% in June, and Discretionary Traders were up 1.40%.
“Drought fears in the US drove prices higher for agricultural commodities,” says Waksman.
After six months in 2012, the Barclay Agricultural Traders Index leads all managed futures strategies with a gain of 4.73%. Currency Traders are up 1.19% year to date, and Discretionary Traders have gained 0.84%.
The Diversified Traders Index is down 1.45% after two quarters, Financial & Metals Traders have lost 0.94%, and Systematic Traders gave up 0.81%.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, was down 1.50% in June. The BTOP50 was up 0.09% through June 2012.
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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 6,200 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Each month Barclay provides updated performance rankings for 38 Hedge Fund categories, 16 CTA categories, and 7 UCITS categories.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms, and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge indices as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.