Managed futures fall 1.31% in June

Date: Thursday, July 21, 2011
Author: Wendy Chothia, HedgeWeek

Managed futures lost 1.31% in June according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the Barclay CTA Index is down 1.51%. Seven of Barclay’s eight CTA indices had losses in June.

The Barclay Diversified Traders Index dropped 2.24%, Systematic Traders were down 1.97%, Agricultural Traders  lost 0.11%, and Currency Traders were down 0.35%.

“The only  thing that went up in June was volatility,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Three major trends are creating a deep underlying uncertainty that is driving this volatility.

“The first issue is loose money in developed markets in an attempt to bolster business  growth. The second is aggressive tightening in emerging markets to ward off inflation. And finally, we have the inability of political leaders in the US and Europe to come to grips with the seriousness of the deficit issues their  nations are facing.”

Year-to-date, only three managed futures strategies are in positive territory. The Barclay Discretionary Traders Index has gained 1.96%, Agricultural Traders are up 2.15%,  and Currency Traders have gained 0.72%. Diversified  Traders have lost 3.34% in the first two quarters of 2011, and Systematic Traders are down 3.14%. The Financial/Metal Traders Index is nearly even, with a loss of 0.06%.