• “The improvements from holding an efficiently –selected portfolio of managed accounts or funds are so large – and the correlation between returns on the futures portfolios and those on the stocks and bond portfolio are so surprisingly low (sometimes even negative) – that the return/risk tradeoffs provided by augmented portfolios… clearly dominate the tradeoffs available from portfolios of stocks alone or from portfolios of stocks and bonds.” Professor John E. Linter, Harvard Business School
• The number and variety of markets traded in managed futures investments may add substantial diversification to an investment portfolio.
• Financial instability and the regulatory environment have set the stage for the strategy to prosper with no correlation to traditional markets.

Introduction
As financial markets suffered this past year, one strategy in particular continued to stand out as leading the pack with good returns. Historically, managed futures have been a more under recognized asset class among global investors. In a year that was mainly marked with investment losses, the Barclay CTA Index was up nearly 14% in 2008. Benefiting from clear price trends, managed futures handily beat the overall markets, with the average hedge fund losing nearly 22%, according to BarclayHedge. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index lost nearly 40% in 2008, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.8%. The sector, with nearly $206 in assets under management, is expected to receive substantial inflows as investors seek strategies away from the traditional markets and hedge funds that performed so poorly in 2008.