Managed Futures Start New Year with 0.72% Gain

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, February 13, 2007 - Managed futures gained 0.72% in January, according to flash estimates from the Barclay CTA Index.

"The rise in U.S. interest rates helped fuel a rally in the USD against European, Japanese, and Canadian currencies," says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.

All eight of Barclay's CTA indices gained ground in January. The Financial and Metals Index was up 0.91%, Systemic Traders gained 0.71%, the Diversified Traders Index was up 0.68%, while Discretionary Traders rose 0.49%.

"Rallies in gold and natural gas prices also helped many traders to achieve a profitable month. Agricultural markets were more difficult as prices for corn and soybeans dropped at the beginning of the month only to rally back at month-end."

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest CTAs, gained 0.60% in January.

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 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.