Panels have continued this afternoon at the iGlobal Alternative Investment Summit, with some great perspectives shared. First up was a panel discussing various hedge fund strategies, with a well-deserved focus on managed futures. Donald Steinbrugge of Agecroft Partners and Justin Shepard of Aurora Investment Management both pointed the space out, highlighting the fact that the asset class has grown faster in assets than any other hedge fund strategy in the past decade. As Steinbrugge put it, “If you’re a pension fund of size, you’re looking at managed futures.”

Another interesting comment related to the size of CTAs that investors have gravitated towards. Size, apparently, is everything. Shocking, right? But at this point, the head shaking continues. As we’ve written about in the past, our research indicates that large CTAs frequently experience a flattening out of returns. Depending on the investor goals, this means that bigger isn’t always better, and this allocation strategy may not yield the desired results from the asset class.

The regulatory panel that followed was also pretty intriguing. The discussion started with that beautiful piece of law that was longer than the US tax code, and perhaps even more hated: Dodd-Frank. Gregory Nowak of Pepper Hamilton LLP spent a good amount of time detailing all the ways in which the law had intended to provide clarity and transparency and failed miserably. With the Fed revealing that they will soon vote on Basel III and Congressional bickering over Dodd-Frank resuming with the fast approaching Volcker rule deadline, the general consensus seems to be that there will no rest for the wicked anytime soon. And that’s why Nowack jokingly referred to Dodd-Frank as an employment guarantee for lawyers.

And for those that were hoping the election and a new administration might help things, don’t bet on it. As panelist Steven Goldburg of Grant Thornton LLP put it, it comes down to Congressional control, and the odds of Republicans getting to that magic 60 vote level in the Senate are slim.  As Nowack added, “Change? Not for at least another decade.”

Great.