Diversification Benefits of Managed Futures

10 Pages Posted: 12 Oct 2010

See all articles by Thomas Schneeweis

Thomas Schneeweis

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Isenberg School of Management

Raj Gupta

American College of Healthcare Trustees; American College of Healthcare Trustees

Abstract

Under the Commodity Exchange Act, all individuals and firms (with certain exceptions) that intend to do business as futures professionals must register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The commission has authorized the National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organization, to receive and review applications and grant registrations. The following are two categories of futures professionals that must register: Commodity trading adviser (CTA) — A person, who, for compensation or profit, directly or indirectly advises others as to the advisability of buying or selling commodity futures or option contracts. Commodity pool operator (CPO) — An individual or firm that operates a commodity pool. A commodity pool is an investment trust, syndicate, or similar form of enterprise operated for the purpose of trading commodity futures or options contracts.

Many hedge funds, particularly those that trade futures, are registered as CTAs and even CPOs. CTAs generally can be classified as currency, financials, equity, physicals, and diversified. Most are classified as diversified (they trade several markets) and fewer are classified as physicals (they exclusively trade nonfinancial markets such as energy, metals, softs, etc.). I n this article, we examine the diversification benefits of managed futures. We examine alternative ways of investing in managed futures, discuss data sources as well as the impact of survivorship bias, and present our results as they relate to the diversification benefits of managed futures.

Keywords: Managed Futures, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, Commodity Trading Advisor, CTA, Commodity Pool Operator, CPO

JEL Classification: G10, G11, G20, G23, G24

Suggested Citation

Schneeweis, Thomas and Gupta, Raj, Diversification Benefits of Managed Futures. Journal of Investment Consulting, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 53-62, Summer 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1690623

Thomas Schneeweis

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Isenberg School of Management ( email )

Amherst, MA 01003-4910
United States
413-545-5641 (Phone)
413-545-3858 (Fax)

Raj Gupta (Contact Author)

American College of Healthcare Trustees ( email )

PO Box 1714
Houlton, ME 04730
United States
04730 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.facht.org

American College of Healthcare Trustees ( email )

PO Box 1714
Houlton, ME 04730
United States
04730 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.facht.org

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