CTAs Surge in August
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: September 25, 2026
CTAs are on course for a very strong year after a positive August saw the Barclay CTA Index, managed by BarclayHedge, produce its strongest monthly return since January of this year.
The headline CTA Index was an estimated +2.39% in August, with just shy of 92% of funds reporting results, this brings year-to-date performance to +7.3%. If the Index can hold these levels, it is on track for its best annual performance since 2014 when it returned 7.61% – its best return this century is +14.09% in 2008.
Unsurprisingly given the surge in prices, the Cryptocurrency Traders Index was best performer at +13.76%, however the year’s struggles mean this only just drags the index into the black at +1.27% year-to-date. Conversely, the Currency Traders Index provided the lowest return at +0.65% for August, bringing it to +2.01% for 2026.
Discretionary traders outperformed their systematic brethren, although they continue to lag year-to-date. The Discretionary Traders Index was +3.58% in August – the best TradFi performer – while the Systematic Traders Index was +2.44%. Year-to-date the latter is +7.35%, while the former is +6.12%.
A strong August reinforced the leading position of the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index, which seeks to capture the average return of the 20 largest systematic traders. The sub-index returned 2.71% in August for +12.93% year-to-date, easily in front of second-best performer for 2026, the Diversified Traders Index at +9.88% (+3.05% in August).
It was a similar picture for the BTOP50 Index, which is constructed to replicate the overall composition of the managed futures industry with regard to trading style and overall market exposure. This was an estimated +3.2% in August, brining year-to-date performance to +11.12%.
Meanwhile, performance was much more balanced between systematic and discretionary traders according to SG Prime Services. The SG Macro Trading Index was +2.21% in August, for +5.9% year-to-date, while the Quantitative Macro Trading Index was +2.22% and the discretionary +2.2%. Year-to-date, quant traders continue to outperform at +9.5%, compared to +4.19% for discretionary firms. The SG CTA Index was +11.46% year-to-date at the end of August.
