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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, April 7, 2006 - Managed Futures gained 1.24% in March, according the Barclay CTA Index. The Index is up 0.94% for the first quarter of 2006.
"Central bankers seeking to restrict inflationary pressures drove interest rates higher in March," says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group. "Traders with short positions in the various interest rate instruments did well this month."
Seven out of eight Barclay CTA indexes gained ground in March. The Barclay Diversified Traders Index was up 1.67%, Financial/Metal Index gained 1.37%, and Systematic Traders rose 1.33%.
"Precious metals prices continued higher, and copper prices rose to new highs. Both of these trends helped to augment CTA returns for the month," says Waksman.
Only the Currency Traders Index was down in March, losing 0.16%.
"Currency Traders had to maneuver carefully within a difficult environment. The Yen strengthened against the Australian and Canadian dollar, while the Euro gained against just about everything."
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors the performance of the largest CTAs, was up 2.00% in March, and has gained 2.20% in Q1.
Click here to view 26 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Sol Waksman, an experienced media source, provides perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary, call Sol at 641-472-3456 or email sol@barclayhedge.com.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 5,100 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 Barclay's indexes as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
