BarclayHedge Blog

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, April 10, 2008 – Managed futures lost 0.36% in March according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 7.09% for the first quarter of 2008.

“Nearly 57 percent of the CTAs on our platform were profitable in March,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

“This is a significant achievement, considering the abrupt price reversals in commodity markets on March 19th, when crude oil dropped 4.5 percent and gold fell 5.9 percent in one day.”
Agricultural Traders lost 3.51% in March, and Discretionary Traders were down 0.91%.

“The challenge that agricultural traders face is that there are limited opportunities for diversification within an agricultural portfolio,” says Waksman.

“Despite the fact that most grains have been in a sustained uptrend for the past 18 months, agricultural traders can still be hurt when prices across the sector drop suddenly.”
Although Diversified Traders lost 0.99% in March, the Index has returned 13.92% in the first three months of 2008.

Barclay’s Currency Traders Index gained 0.56% in March, and Financial/Metals Traders rose 0.23%.

“Continued divergence between interest rates in the US and Europe has created profitable trading opportunities in the financial markets,” says Waksman.

“This interest rate divergence has also helped to drive the U.S dollar down, marking new lows against both the euro and the Japanese yen, and providing currency traders with opportunities to profit.”

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, slipped 0.52% in March, but is still up 4.96% for the quarter.

Click here to view 28 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, formerly known as The Barclay Group, was founded in 1985, and actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes. Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, managed futures

Commodity Trading Advisor performance for December as measured by the Barclay CTA Index averaged +2.07%. February’s estimate based on the performance of the Barclay BTOP50 Index is +3.97%.

Hedge funds had a down month in January reflected by losses in fifteen of our eighteen indexes. The average return for the 2978 hedge funds (ex. FoFs) that have so far reported a January return is -3.24%. The estimates for February, along with the number of funds reporting for each of our 18 sectors can be found at the link below. These indices are being continually updated as current returns for the underlying hedge funds are recorded into our system. As of this writing, 16 of 18 hedge fund sectors are showing positive returns for February.

Hedge Fund Indices and Managed Futures Indices

From the June 2008 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Labels: Barclay Insider Report, commodity trading advisor, managed futures

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, April 7, 2008 – Hedge funds lost 2.40% in March according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is down 4.42% for the year.

“Following a strong recovery in February, hedge funds suffered another setback in March,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

“Fear of a collapse at Bear Stearns followed by the euphoria of a Fed bailout created large price swings in the equity markets, and made it a difficult trading month for both bulls and bears.”
Seventeen of Barclay's 18 hedge fund indexes declined in March. The Emerging Markets Index dropped 5.65%, Multi-Strategy fell 3.45%, Healthcare and Biotechnology lost 3.10%, Event Driven was down 2.79%, and Pacific Rim Equities lost 2.50%.

“Losses were wide-spread due to the volatile markets,” says Waksman. “At this point, 78 percent of the hedge funds on our platform have reported a negative return for March.”

The BarclayHedge Fund of Funds Index was down 2.49% in March.

Equity Short Bias Still Going Strong

The BarclayHedge Equity Short Bias Index was up 1.50% in March, and has gained 12.44% for the first quarter of 2008.

“The best-performing hedge fund strategy in 2008 has been shorting the market,” says Waksman.

“In fact, Equity Short Bias has five straight months of gains, up 21.90% since November 2007, an enviable return in these turbulent times.”

Click here to view five years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data, or download 11 years of monthly 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, formerly known as The Barclay Group, was founded in 1985, and actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes. Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, hedge funds