August will go down as one of those months in which Managed Futures (specifically trend followers) were able to fully capitalize off of futures markets & sectors moving in different directions simultaneously to create unique trends. Some notable trends include: Long Bonds, Long Stocks, Long USD, Short Foreign Currencies, Short Precious Metals, and Short Grains {past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results}.

Put all that together, and Managed Futures posted its best monthly return of the year, with August indices returns averaging a tick under +2.50% {past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results}.

However, these market moves weren’t ideal for all CTAs. Short Term programs we track didn’t fare as well in the past months consistent up or down trend movements, as they rely on more back and forth mean reversion moves in the market.

Here’s the month by month performance of Managed Futures for 2014 thus far:

(Disclaimer: Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results)