It was indeed a busy week for managed futures in Chicago with the FIA (Futures Industry Association) Conference and upstart CTA Expo in town.  With so many CTAs in town for the week, it was a great time for us to get further face to face time with many of the CTAs we work with here in our office for program updates and ongoing due diligence. It is always nice to catch up with existing managers and discuss their programs  and any ongoing research; but the week also gives us an opportunity to meet new CTA talent for the first time.

Some of the managers that we had ongoing due diligence meetings with in our office this week include:

• Accela Capital Management
• Dominion Capital Management
• Integrated Managed Futures
• James River Capital Corporation

The speakers and presentations at the various events this week were very well done – our own Jeff Eizenberg moderated a panel discussion on managed futures in Latin America that was hosted by the CME Group on Tuesday. And we’re lucky (or is it good) to be headquartered in Chicago where events like this give us an opportunity to speak with managed futures participants from around the world, including Brazil, Canada, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and the U.K. Some of the other managers that we spoke with this week more informally included 2100 Xenon, Auctos, Clarke Capital, Emil Van Essen, FCI, Hudson Capital Group, Transworld Capital Management, amongst others.

Thanks to all who came and stopped by our office this week and those conference attendees we spoke with. Good performance is nice, glossy brochures and statistics ok… but a handshake, ability to look a manager in the eye, and hear their story first hand is invaluable in the forever ongoing due diligence process.