Key Takeaways
- • The headline reports managed futures rose 4.11% in September, leading gains across alternatives, but the full article was unavailable and the 4.11% figure does not appear in the supporting sources.
- • A separate September market update cited a +3.41% managed futures gain, its best month of 2025, while bonds added +1.11%. That figure refers to a different period and should not be read as the same result.
- • The Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF (CTA) had taken in more than $570 million in net new assets so far in 2025, according to publisher material.
- • The managed futures industry is widely estimated at $300 billion or more, comprised of Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) trading liquid global futures and FX markets.
Summary
Pluang's headline states that managed futures rose 4.11% in September and led gains among alternative strategies. The full article could not be retrieved, and the available sources do not confirm that figure or the period it covers.
The closest corroborating reference is a September market update, which reported that managed futures posted their best month of 2025 with a 3.41% gain, while bonds added 1.11%. That figure relates to 2025 and differs from the headline number, so the two should be kept separate. A separate roundup of alternatives ETFs also noted that the Simplify Multi-QIS Alternative ETF (QIS) returned 3.74% in one week, with other managed futures funds posting strong gains.
Investor interest in the strategy has grown. Publisher material states that the Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF (CTA) took in more than $570 million in net new assets so far in 2025, and that assets in managed futures ETFs rose sixfold to $1.2 billion in 2022, though performance across those funds was highly dispersed.
The strategy is typically positioned as a diversifier. According to The Hedge Fund Journal, managed futures offer non-directional exposure, low historical correlation to traditional and alternative assets, liquidity, price transparency, and cash efficiency. The benefits were first widely documented by Dr. John Lintner in his 1983 paper on managed commodity-financial futures accounts.
The closest corroborating reference is a September market update, which reported that managed futures posted their best month of 2025 with a 3.41% gain, while bonds added 1.11%. That figure relates to 2025 and differs from the headline number, so the two should be kept separate. A separate roundup of alternatives ETFs also noted that the Simplify Multi-QIS Alternative ETF (QIS) returned 3.74% in one week, with other managed futures funds posting strong gains.
Investor interest in the strategy has grown. Publisher material states that the Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF (CTA) took in more than $570 million in net new assets so far in 2025, and that assets in managed futures ETFs rose sixfold to $1.2 billion in 2022, though performance across those funds was highly dispersed.
The strategy is typically positioned as a diversifier. According to The Hedge Fund Journal, managed futures offer non-directional exposure, low historical correlation to traditional and alternative assets, liquidity, price transparency, and cash efficiency. The benefits were first widely documented by Dr. John Lintner in his 1983 paper on managed commodity-financial futures accounts.
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