Strategic Analysis Overview - February 2025 (Kettera Heat Map)
In the financial landscape of February 2025, hedge fund strategies demonstrated a diverse array of performances, with some capitalising on increased FX trading volumes and volatility tied to tariff policies, while others struggled to capitalise effectively.
Currency trading programs experienced mixed fortunes, with the Societe Generale Short-term Traders Index and Barclay Currency Traders Index serving as benchmarks. Systematic Trend Programs faced a challenging month, particularly in shorter-term programs for base metals, agricultural grains, and currency trading, as indicated by the Societe Generale Trend CTA Index and With Intelligence Systematic Macro Hedge Fund Index.
Meanwhile, Commodities Managers - Agricultural Specialists saw mixed returns, with programs focusing on longer-term fundamentals performing well. The Barclay Agricultural Traders Index served as a benchmark in this sector.
Discretionary Global Macro Managers delivered mixed to positive results, with those correctly anticipating falling US yields and rising German Bunds performing particularly well. Many managers also correctly went short on the US dollar, notably against the Japanese Yen and British Pound.
Equities trading was a mixed bag, with programs overweight long exposures to European indices performing well, while those overweight long US equity indices did poorly. Livestock traders were cautiously short on cattle markets as prices backed off from historic highs.
The With Intelligence Volatility Arbitrage Index and With Intelligence Long Volatility Hedge Fund Index, in combination with the Intelligence Macro Hedge Fund Index and a blend of the BarclayHedge Multi Strategy Index and With Intelligence Institutional Equity Hedge Multi Strategy Index, were mentioned as additional benchmarks. The Nilsson CTA Commodities Index was also listed as a benchmark.
It's important to note that these indices and benchmarks are for illustrative purposes only, unmanaged, and do not reflect the impact of advisory fees. Moreover, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns. Index data is reported as of the date of publication and may be a month-to-date estimate if all underlying components have not yet reported.
The Kettera Strategies Heat Map for February 2025 does not necessarily indicate future results. Medium-term and longer-term Systematic Trend Programs also suffered, with losses among big trend reversals in agricultural products and US bonds.
This overview provides a snapshot of the performance of various hedge fund strategies in February 2025. For a more detailed analysis of the key challenges faced by Systematic Trend Programs, Discretionary Global Macro Managers, FX Programs, Commodities Managers - Agricultural Specialists, and other strategies during this period, additional research may be required.
Copyright © 2025 Kettera Strategies, all rights reserved. The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of AlphaWeek or its publisher, The Sortino Group. Kettera disclaims any obligation to verify these numbers or to update or revise the performance numbers.
In the realm of data-and-cloud-computing, tech-savvy investors might find interest in analyzing the performance of hedge funds utilizing data from various indices, such as the Nilsson CTA Commodities Index, the With Intelligence Volatility Arbitrage Index, and the BarclayHedge Multi Strategy Index, to name a few. Moreover, to potentially identify opportunities in the investing landscape, one could scrutinize the impact of technology on strategies like Systematic Trend Programs and Discretionary Global Macro Managers, as their performances seem to be affected by trends in FX trading volumes and volatility, data that technology can help analyze effectively.
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