After two straight down months, the managed futures industry reversed course in November posting a 0.40 per cent monthly return, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, CTA funds posted a 5.04 per cent return through the end of November.

“Trend followers were rewarded as the equity market extended their rally for another month,” says Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge. “Energy markets were mixed; crude oil prices rose while natural gas lost. In the agriculture sector, coffee and wheat advanced but corn and soybeans declined.”

All but two CTA sectors were in positive territory for November. The MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index took the lead with a gain of 1.08 per cent, and the Systematic Traders Index rose 0.64 per cent. The Financial & Metal Traders Index posted a 0.62 per cent monthly return, the Diversified Traders Index was up 0.29 per cent, and the Currency Traders Index rose 0.19 per cent.

In the loss column, the Cryptocurrency Traders Index dropped 7.96 per cent in November and the Discretionary Traders Index was down 0.45 per cent.

All sectors remained in the black for the year-to-date through the end of November. Leading the pack was the Cryptocurrency Traders Index, up 39.04 per cent, followed by the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index, posting an 8.70 per cent return. The Financial & Metal Traders Index gained 4.82 per cent on the year while the Diversified Traders Index returned 3.82 per cent.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which tracks the performance of the largest CTAs that are still open for new investment, gained 0.70 per cent in November and is up 7.07 per cent year-to-date.