Managed Futures October Performance by Attain Capital
Managed Futures continues its strong performance the 2nd half of 2014, with three of the four indices we track posting almost identical returns for October, a positive 1.06% {past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results}.
But it wasn’t a smooth month of returns by any meanings. Trend Followers started off the month strong with continued trends in Long U.S Dollar, Short Metals, Short Crude Oil, and for some strategies, Long Stock Index futures. But as the Fed called for the end of QE, these trends appeared to be coming to an end, and it looked as though managed futures as an asset class was going to end down on the month, slightly. That was until on the last day of month, the Bank of Japan announced it was expanding monetary easing (QE) from 60 trillion up to 80 trillion yen ($720 Billion).
Most of us heard about this move by Japan sending stocks to all time highs, but it also helped these same markets (US Dollar, Crude, Metals) continue their trends, giving managed futures the boost it needed to end the month in the positive. But taking daily moving of markets in the lens of managed futures strategies doesn’t mean much. It’s the fact that those end of the month moves added on to or continued the trends that have been taking place for weeks or months.
We’ve already talked about why a trending (up or down) US dollar is good for managed futures, but more importantly this month’s performance, or rather, the past couple of months performance, is to show that Managed Futures strategies are non-correlated to the stock market. Meaning, that it’s just as likely to perform well when stocks are going up (like right now) as it is to perform well when stocks are moving lower like in 2008-2009 {past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results}.
(Disclaimer: Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results)
(Note: Barclayhedge reporting 25% of funds)
With two months to go, we’re still not celebrating these returns just yet, as we’d love seeing the YTD performance run into the double digits. Here’s hoping.
“The Managed Futures Blog is a compilation of thoughts, research, attempts at humor, and more from the team at Attain Capital Management (“Attain”). Attain pairs high net worth individuals, RIA’s, and institutional investors with alternative investments in commodities, managed futures, and global macro strategies through privately offered funds and managed accounts. Click here to sign up for their insight and analysis.”
