CTA’s Eke Out Gains in July

CTAs managed to return small gains in July according to the Barclay CTA Index, compiled by BarclaysHedge, which was +0.37% for the month, with just over 75% of funds reporting.

For the first time in a while, all sub-indices were in positive territory for the month, led by cryptocurrency traders at +4.88%. The Currency Traders Index was +0.55% for +0.81% on the year – crypto traders are +83.81%, while the overall index is +4.91% for 2021.

Behind crypto traders, the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Trader Index was +0.73% for July – it is also second best performing year-to-date at +8.5%. Systematic traders outperformed discretionary in July, the former was +0.4%, the latter +0.25%, however discretionary traders continue to outperform year-to-date, by 6.13% to 4.57%.

The BTOP50 Index, which measures the larger traders, rose 0.51% and is up 7.8% year-to-date.

Elsewhere, the SG Macro Trading Index rose by 0.24% in July for 3.37% up on the year, while again, systematic traders outperformed discretionary, the SG quantitative macro index rising 0.43% on the month for +3.24% year-to-date, while the discretionary index fell 0.17% but remains slightly ahead year-to-date at +3.33%. The SG Commodity Trading Index rose 0.59% for +10.34% year-to-date.