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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, August 18, 2008– Managed futures slipped in July, losing 2.37% according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
Year-to-date, the Barclay CTA Index is up 7.58%, outpacing most hedge fund strategies and equity markets.
“Price reversals in energy, metals, and agricultural markets were the primary causes of losses in July,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Corn prices dropped 20 percent, Natural Gas plunged 32 percent, and Crude Oil dropped $30 from its July 11th high.”
Seven of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices had losses in July. Diversified Traders dropped 4.31%, Systemic Traders fell 2.91%, Discretionary Traders lost 1.26%, and Financial and Metals Traders were down 1.24%.
“The financial markets were also difficult to navigate in July,” says Waksman. “Collapsing commodity prices focused investor concerns on a weakening economic environment and away from fears of inflation.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 1.48% in July, but remains up 6.80% in 2008.
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 more 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 6,800 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 Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
