Lackluster performance towards the beginning of the year is nothing new for managed futures, with the asset class known for a history of strong 2nd half performance, but we sure could use that kicking in earlier this year.
Category: Managed Futures
31
Mar
2014
What a Hedge Fund Failure Looks like:
The mainstream financial press couldn’t get enough of the news today/yesterday that hedge fund legend Paul Tudor Jones was shutting down one of his eponymous funds, the Tudor Tensor Fund (try saying Tudor Tensor ten times fast). Here’s a snapshot of some of the twitter comments:
28
Mar
2014
PFG Update: J.P. Morgan to Pay $15 Million
Some good news for former PFG customers today, as the PFG trustee Ida Bodenstein is requesting the bankruptcy judge approve a $15 Million settlement with the bank. Now if the lawyers at US Bank could just agree to settle with the CFTC in its lawsuit, everyone would be happy.
27
Mar
2014
Finding the Next Dayton for Your Portfolio
So who do you usually pick for your portfolio – the Duke’s of the investment world, or the Dayton’s? Do you play it safe and go with the best record and highest seed? Or try and uncover talented teams which have flown under the radar but are ready for a big upset (we actually did a Managed Futures Bracket for those who want to find some underdogs).
26
Mar
2014
Gross or Net, Winton, and 5 vs 29
We got a comment the other day from an investor unlike one we have seen before touching on the fees involved with managed futures.This investor is somehow under the impression that the various managed futures indices are comprised of manager performance numbers gross of fees. To set the record straight – the main managed futures indices are calculated from manager level performance reported NET of fees.
25
Mar
2014
Top 10 Managed Futures Managers of February
While one month’s performance is no way to judge an investment that has 3 to 5 year cycles, a glance at who’s doing well in the different environments month to month can be a useful data point at times. Here’s the top managed futures performers (by return only) for the month gone by:
24
Mar
2014
7 Commodities in Contango and Backwardation
One of the more unique aspects of futures contracts compared to other investment styles, is that there are fixed term contracts which expire at specific dates, and many different ‘contract months’ for each commodity futures market. Charting these different prices for the different contract months gives you what they call the price “curve” of either backwardation or contango.
20
Mar
2014
March Madness, Managed Futures Style
Here’s the managed futures “tournament” for a little fun while watching the real tournament… fill it out and send us your picks for the CTA you think will most likely win the managed futures title over the next 3 to 5 years.
19
Mar
2014
21 Billion Global Trades
We’re almost a quarter of the way through 2014, and the folks at the FIA (Futures Industry Association) have finished crunching the numbers on just how many trades there were across all derivative exchanges last year in releasing its annual survey, and the numbers – as always – are eye-popping; with over 21 BILLION futures and options trades done last year across the globe.
19
Mar
2014
Will Simple Beat Complex in the Next 5 Years?
One of our favorite bloggers almost made us cry yesterday… It’s Barry Ritholtz, who grabbed the charts out of our own post on various markets movements and asset classes both before and after March 9th, 2009 (the equity low), and used them to kick managed futures while their down — claiming Cheap and Simple (stock) beats (present tense) Expensive and Complex (managed futures).
