Managed futures funds turned in another positive month in August returning 0.18 per cent, according to the Barclay CTA Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. Year-to-date, CTAs are up 2.73 per cent through August.
“The S&P 500 extended its on-going rally to five months, prices for energy and precious metals rose and the US dollar continued to weaken against most currencies,” says Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge. “Other futures markets were not as accommodating as evidenced by an even split on the month between winning and losing funds.”
Sectors making up the Barclay CTA Indices were also evenly split for August. Those in the black were led by the Cryptocurrency Traders Index which was up 14.15 per cent. The Agricultural Traders Index gained 0.72 per cent in August, the Discretionary Traders Index was up 0.68 per cent and the Diversified Traders Index returned 0.28 per cent.
On the other side of the ledger, sectors in the red for August included the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index which was down 0.97 per cent, the Currency Traders Index which was off 0.65 per cent, the Financial & Metals Traders Index losing 0.38 per cent and the Systematic Traders Index which lost 0.14 per cent.
All but one of the sectors tracked remained in positive territory for the year-to-date. The Cryptocurrency Traders Index led the way returning 79.95 per cent, while the Agricultural Traders Index gained 9.55 per cent, the Currency Traders Index was up 5.13 per cent and the Discretionary Traders Index returned 4.73 per cent.
The MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index remained the lone sector in the red year-to-date, down 3.82 per cent through August.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which tracks the performance of the largest CTAs that are still open for new investment, was down 0.11 per cent in August. Year-to-date, the BTOP50 was up 0.04 per cent.
