Managed futures gained 2.14 per cent in September, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
After three quarters of the year, the index is up 4.45 per cent.
“Although the year-to-date return is modest, more than 75 percent of the CTAs that have reported data through September are having a profitable run,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
All eight of Barclay’s CTA indices had gains in September. The Diversified Traders Index gained 2.66 per cent, Agricultural Traders were up 2.64 per cent, Systematic Traders gained 2.01 per cent, and Currency Traders added 1.36 per cent.
“Continued weakness in energy, metals, and agricultural commodities helped to drive the CRB Index almost five per cent lower and trend followers were positioned to profit,” says Waksman. “In financial markets, the US Dollar Index rose 3.7 percent in September, and profits from the dollar’s prolonged uptrend helped ease losses from trend reversals in equity and interest rate markets.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, gained 1.92 per cent in September, and is now up 4.80 per cent in 2014.
After three quarters, the Barclay Agricultural Traders Index has outpaced all other managed futures strategies with a strong 17.57 per cent return. The Diversified Traders Index is up 5.29 per cent, Systematic Traders have gained 5.09 per cent, and Discretionary Traders are up 4.94 per cent.
