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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, December 17, 2009–Managed futures gained 2.15% in November according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“Fears of a default by Dubai World coupled with growing confidence that central bankers would keep interest rates low provided excellent profits for properly positioned interest rate trades,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Seven of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices gained ground in November. The Diversified Traders Index was up 3.70%, Systematic Traders gained 2.56%, Financial and Metals Traders rose 1.62%, and Discretionary Traders were up 1.30%.
“Traders bet heavily against the US Dollar in November and pushed prices for gold and silver up almost 13 percent,” says Waksman.
“Weakness in natural gas prices resulting from a large inventory overhang and milder temperatures generated profits for momentum traders who have been short this market.”
Year-to-date, CTAs have gained an average of 1.25%. Through November, the best and worst performing managed futures strategies are separated by less than three percent. Discretionary Traders are up 1.30%, while Agricultural Traders are down 0.98%.
“It’s been a year of running in place for most CTAs,” says Waksman.
“The performance of the managed futures sector has been choppy in 2009 – up a month or two, and then back down again.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 1.31% in October, and is down 3.16% 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 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.
