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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, May 14, 2009– Managed futures slipped again in April, losing 0.51% according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the Index is down 2.34%.
“Directionless markets and conflicting trends made it difficult for CTAs to extract profits from trading positions in April,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Six of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices lost ground in April. Diversified Traders dropped 1.24%, Systemic Traders fell 1.09%, and Financial and Metals Traders were down 0.64%.
“While the currencies of several of the main commodity exporting nations continued to gain in value, commodity prices overall were mixed to slightly down,” says Waksman.
Discretionary Traders did manage a 0.33% gain in April, and Agricultural Traders were up 0.21%.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 1.45% in April, and is down 3.21% in 2009.
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 6,000 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.
