CTAs Flat in July

July was a quiet month for CTAs, with the Barclay CTA Index, managed by BarclayHedge, barely changed on the month, with just short of 90% of funds reporting results.

The headline index was just +0.02% in July, bringing year-to-date performance to +4.88%, with the Currency Trader index third best at +0.81%, for +1.43% year-to-date. Best performing sub-index was the Cryptocurrency Traders Index, thanks to a small bounce in crypto prices, which rose 2.85%, although it remains comfortably the worst performer in 2026 at -10.57%.

Discretionary traders made a comeback in July compared to systematic, although the latter remains ahead year-to-date. The Discretionary Traders Index was +1.77% in July, bringing it to +2.48% on the year, while the Systematic Traders Index fell 0.52% for +4.9% on the year. The MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index, which is constructed to capture the average return of the 20 largest systematic traders, also fell, by 0.41%, but remains best performing sub-index at +9.81% year-to-date.

The BTOP50 Index, which seeks to replicate the overall composition of the managed futures industry with regard to trading style and overall market exposure, was an estimated -0.54% in July, bring year-to-date performance to +7.89% for 2026.

Elsewhere, quant traders outperformed discretionary according to SG Prime’s Macro trading indices. The headline SG Macro Trading Index was +0.59% in July, bringing year-to-date performance to +3.66%, while the Quantitative Trading Index was +1.6% for +7.32%. In contrast, the Discretionary Trading Index was just +0.01% for +1.85% year-to-date.