LEARNING CENTER - MANAGED FUTURES

Managed Futures is an alternative asset class that provides investors with access to physical commodities and financial markets worldwide. The term Managed Futures refers to an industry comprised of professional money managers known as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA's) and Commodity Pool Operators (CPO's), who manage portfolios by buying and selling futures and forward contracts around the globe. CTA's and CPO's invest in world currencies, agricultural markets, stock indicies, crude oil and natural gas products, precious and industrial metals, and short-term and long term interest rate instruments from Australia and the Far East to Europe and the Americas.

Managed Futures has been embraced by both the academic and institutional investment communities for over two decades as a means to achieve diversification in a traditional portfolio. The long term positive returns generated from Managed Futures investments typically depend on economic factors different from those that affect the equity and bond markets. By participating in a wide variety of markets unavailable in a traditional portfolio, investors can enhance overall portfolio returns while simultaneously reducing volatility.