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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, April 10, 2007– Managed futures continue their poor performance in 2007, according to The Barclay Group. The Barclay CTA Index was down 1.29% for the month of March.
“Most of the major futures markets had price reversals this month,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.
“Since more than 60 percent of CTAs utilize systematic trend-following methodologies for trade selection, it’s not surprising that close to 65 percent of traders had losses in March.”
Diversified Traders fell 1.67% in March, Systematic Traders lost 1.31%, and the Financial and Metals Traders Index was down 0.79%.
“Prices in the energy complex started the month on a down trend, but then rallied strongly from mid-month onwards.”
Only one sector was in positive territory for March. Barclay’s Agricultural Traders Index was up 0.12% for the month, and has gained 2.64% during the first quarter of 2007.
“Prices for corn, soybeans and wheat were weak all month long, awarding profits to short-sellers in the agricultural sector," says Waksman.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest CTAs, dropped 2.00% in March.
Click here to view 27 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
View eight years of monthly returns for the Barclay BTOP50 Index.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends.
Call 641-472-3456 or email sol@barclayhedge.com for more commentary or background.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 6,000 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.
