Managed futures gained 1.85 per cent in July, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.

The index is now up 1.53 per cent year to date.

All eight of Barclay’s CTA indices had positive returns in July. The Barclay Diversified Traders Index was up 2.61 per cent, systematic traders gained 2.28 per cent, agricultural traders were up 2.23 per cent, discretionary traders gained 1.50 per cent, and financial and metals traders added 1.22 per cent.

“Bond markets also rallied and the US dollar strengthened against the Euro,” says Waksman. “Simultaneous uptrends in the four major sectors of the futures market — commodities, equities, bonds, and interest rates — made for a good month on the long side.”

Year to date, the Agricultural Traders Index leads all managed futures strategies with a gain of 7.12 per cent. The only losing strategy is the Financial & Metals Traders Index, which is down 0.31 per cent for the year.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which measures performance of the largest CTAs, was up 2.30 per cent in July.