'A gain of nearly 14 per cent clearly sets managed futures apart from the losses suffered by most hedge fund strategies and financial markets in 2008,' says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

'The Barclay CTA Index ended the year with a sprint, gaining 6.52 per cent in the last three months of 2008.'

The Barclay Diversified Traders Index put in a strong showing in 2008, gaining 26.50 per cent. Systematic Traders were up 18.11 per cent, Discretionary Traders gained 12.55 per cent, and the Financial/Metals Traders Index rose 10.48 per cent.

'The large majority of CTAs utilize trend-following strategies,' says Waksman. 'These strategies do not attempt to predict future prices, but rather identify trends. If prices are going up, then trend-followers are long. When prices are going down, they're short.'

'Strong trends in all major market sectors offered CTAs some excellent trading opportunities in 2008. Commodity prices rallied in the first half of the year and sank in the second half. Equity prices lost ground throughout the year, and bond prices rose.'

In December, the Barclay CTA Index rose 1.02 per cent. The Systematic Traders Index was up 1.43 per cent, Diversified Traders gained 1.28 per cent, and the Financial/Metals Index rose 0.96 per cent.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, gained 1.02 per cent in December and realized a 12.87 per cent return for the year.