Managed futures traders gained 0.95 per cent in January according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“Seventy percent of CTAs were profitable in January as strong downtrends in global equities and commodities helped fuel uptrends in fixed income and the US Dollar,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Seven of Barclay’s eight CTA indices had positive returns in January. The Diversified Traders Index gained 1.59 per cent, Systematic Traders were up 1.48 per cent, Financial/Metals Traders gained 1.26 per cent, and Currency Traders added 0.59 per cent.
“Rising crude oil inventories amid concerns of a global economic slowdown sparked declines in global equities, commodities, and commodity-based currencies,” says Waksman. “Risk-off redux coupled with the Bank of Japan’s surprising announcement of negative interest rates helped drive global bond prices higher and benefitted trend followers.”
The Agricultural Traders Index was the only managed futures strategy with a loss in January, giving up 0.32 per cent.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, gained 2.83 per cent in January.
