Managed Futures Gain 0.16% in August; Currency Traders Give Up 0.89%

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, September 20, 2011– Managed futures gained 0.16% in August according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the Index remains down 0.51%.

“Increasing volatility across global markets provided profitable opportunities for most of the major sectors,” says Sol Waksman, founder and President of BarclayHedge.

Six of Barclay’s eight CTA indices had gains in August. The Barclay Diversified Traders Index was up 1.19%, Discretionary Traders gained 0.96%, Systematic Traders added 0.60%, and the Agricultural Traders Index rose 0.57%.

“Global equity markets declined sharply as fears of Lehman redux took hold,” says Waksman.

“The rally in bond prices proved to be a boon for many traders as well.”

The Currency Traders Index had the largest loss in August, giving up 0.89%. The Index dipped into negative territory with a 0.32% loss year-to-date.

“Currency traders had the most difficulty as market sentiment moved from risk-off to risk-on and then back again.”

“Although more than 56 percent of all CTA firms reporting an August return have been profitable, only 43 percent of currency traders ended the month on the plus side.”

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, lost 0.39% in August.

Click here to view 30 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 6,100 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.