Potential to thrive regardless of market direction
Managed futures represent an asset class managed by professional investment managers, known as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs). These managers use their own computer-based trading systems to identify and react to price movements to invest in futures and options contracts.
The majority of managed futures managers employ quantitative trend-following strategies, which alert managers when to take long or short positions once trends develop. This gives them an opportunity to potentially profit from both positive and negative developments across multiple markets and asset classes simultaneously.
Managed futures managers trade in generally transparent markets that typically provide daily liquidity. They have two key potential advantages as they seek to generate absolute returns. Of course, there is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate profits or avoid losses.
- Ability to invest across a wide range of global markets (150+ global markets) with exposure to four major asset classes including stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies.
- They have the flexibility to take long and short positions to capture both positive and negative market trends.
Over the long term, managed futures have provided investors with strong historical returns and low historical correlation to traditional asset classes.
See the Glossary for term definitions.