New York-based Rydex Investments is celebrating the success of its year-old Rydex Managed Futures Strategy Fund, which has beaten the S&P500 index, generating a return of 6.4 per cent

New York-based Rydex Investments is celebrating the success of its year-old Rydex Managed Futures Strategy Fund, which has beaten the S&P500 index, generating a return of 6.4 per cent over its first 12 months.

The performance of the Rydex fund relies to an extent on the future prices of commodities, and on the future prices of currencies. The open-ended fund requires a minimum investment of just USD2,500.

The fund follows Standard & Poor's Diversified Trends Indicator, an index which has enjoyed long-term annual returns averaging 11.5 per cent with less than half the volatility of equities.

Since its establishment Rydex Investments has carved out a niche in specialised investments. It is run by managing director Ed Egilinksy who has been in the alternative investment industry for 15 years. He notes that the ability to go short enables the fund to make money both ways, and argues that everyone, regardless of age, should have between 10 and 30 per cent of their investments in alternatives.

The firm has introduced innovations such as the Rydex Nova Fund, the first leveraged benchmark mutual fund available to the US public, as well as the first short equity and fixed income mutual funds. Rydex manages more than USD16bn in assets through more than 80 mutual and exchange-traded funds.