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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, May 18, 2016 – Managed futures traders lost 0.05% in April according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index has gained 0.95% in the first four months of 2016.
“Improvement in the financial outlook for the US, Europe, and China while central banks sat on their hands sparked a trend reversal in the bond markets,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“The unexpected rise in interest rates created serious headwinds for trend-following CTAs.”
Six of Barclay’s eight CTA indices had negative returns in April; two of the indices were profitable. The Agricultural Traders Index lost 1.08%, Financial/Metals Traders were down 0.69%.
On the positive side, Currency Traders gained 1.14%, and the Diversified Traders Index eked up 0.07%.
“Profits gained from US Dollar weakness against the Japanese yen and commodity related currencies served to reduce losses in other portfolio sectors, and thrust currency traders to their best performance since November 2015,” says Waksman.
At the end of April, Currency Traders have gained 3.05% in 2016, the Financial/Metals Traders Index is up 2.00%, Systematic Traders have gained 1.91%, and Diversified Traders have returned 1.63%.
The Agricultural Traders Index has lost 1.71% year to date, and Discretionary Traders are down 0.48%.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, dropped 2.17% in April. The BTOP50 gained a total of 5.14% in January and February, and then gave back 5.06% in March and April.
Click here to view 35 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 is the global leader in providing independent, research-based information services to the alternative investment industry. Founded in 1985, Barclay currently maintains data on more than 6,300 hedge funds, fund of funds, and CTAs. No one has been in the business of collecting alternative investment data longer than BarclayHedge.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms, and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge indices as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
