Managed futures gained 0.37% in April according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.

"Profitable opportunities in currencies, commodities and fixed income provided the backdrop that propelled 63 percent of reporting managers into the win column for April," says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Six of Barclay's eight managed futures indices had positive returns in April. The Barclay Diversified Traders Index was up 0.54%, Currency Traders gained 0.53%, Systematic Traders were up 0.49%, and the Financial & Metals Traders Index rose 0.31%.

"Bond prices in the US were buoyed by the uncertainty in Europe," says Waksman.

"Similar concerns helped to sustain gains by the US Dollar against the Euro for a fifth consecutive month."

On the losing side, Agricultural Traders were down 1.52% in April and Discretionary Traders lost 0.10%.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest managed futures funds, gained 0.89% in April.

Click here to view 30 years of Barclay CTA Index data.

Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 641-472-3456 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.

BarclayHedge was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 5,800 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.

Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay's data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.