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Barclay CTA Index Gains 0.87% in May; Agricultural Traders Achieve 2.45% Return

Written by superadmin | Jun 24, 2014 12:00:00 AM

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, June 24, 2014 – Managed futures gained 0.87% in May according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is now up 0.21% in 2014.

“An easing of macro concerns coupled with the European Central Bank’s efforts to head off deflation helped fuel rallies in equity and interest rate markets,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

All eight of Barclay’s CTA indices were in positive territory in May. The Agricultural Traders Index was up 2.45%, Financial & Metals Traders gained 1.36%, Systematic Traders were up 1.05%, Discretionary Traders gained 0.72%, and Diversified Traders added 0.69%.

“Commodity markets were led lower by sharp declines in wheat, corn, and coffee prices,” says Waksman.

“Prices for oil and industrial metals were able to buck the trend and registered gains on the month.”

In May, six of Barclay’s managed futures indices moved back into positive territory for the year. The BTOP50 Index has a 0.33% return year to date, Agricultural Traders are up 0.51%, Discretionary Traders have gained 0.20%, Systematic Traders have returned 0.13%, and Diversified Traders are up 0.06%.

Currency Traders are still down 1.43% for the year, and Financial & Metals Traders have lost 1.02%.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, gained 1.50% in May.

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 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.