Access Diversification
Not another long equity fund. Different markets. Different strategies. Different exposures.
Most investors rely on a single source of returns — the appreciation of stocks and bonds. Managed futures provides an independent source of returns via strategies in currencies, interest rates, energy, metals and agriculture markets. BTR helps private clients, family offices and allocators screen trading advisors, structure exposures and create portfolio overlays that help diversify traditional investments.
Managed futures are speculative, involve a substantial risk of loss, and are not suitable for all investors.
Why allocators look at it
Stocks and bonds have a habit of moving together
Usually at the moment you would least like them to. A portfolio built entirely from long equity and long duration is exposed to one broad set of conditions, however many tickers it holds. Making matters worse, tech and AI have concentrated the markets. Most investors think they’re diversified and they’re not.
Managed futures trade a different opportunity set and can be positioned short as readily as long. That is the reason allocators look at the category. It is not a promise about outcomes, but instead a strategy with the goal of providing a portfolio better risk-adjusted returns.
- Long or short, so a falling market is not automatically a losing one
- Markets with their own drivers — weather, inventories, central banks, shipping
- Exchange-traded and centrally cleared, marked to market daily
- No lock-up on the account itself — you can stop an advisor
Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Managed futures are speculative, involve a substantial risk of loss and are not suitable for all investors. Low or negative correlation to other asset classes is not a guarantee of profit or protection against loss.
The mechanics
What a managed futures account actually is
It is not a fund, and it is not a black box you wire money into. Four things are worth understanding before anything else.
The account is yours
You open a futures account in your own name at the clearing FCM, known as an SMA or separately managed account. You can see every position and every fill, and the money never leaves your account to sit in a pooled vehicle.
The advisor trades it
A Commodity Trading Advisor is registered with the CFTC and a member of the NFA. They trade your account under a documented program and a limited trading authorization, which you can revoke. No investor gate, no capital lockups.
They trade different markets
Currencies, rates, stock indices, energy, metals and agriculture — either groups of these markets or even just individual markets, on exchanges around the world and in either direction. Very little of that opportunity set overlaps with a long-only equity portfolio.
You see it daily
Positions, fills and P&L are visible every day rather than in a quarterly letter. You can track it right alongside your other investments, in a fully disclosed manner.
How we build it
A portable alpha sleeve
Managed futures is not intended to be a standalone investment. We structure it as a “portable alpha” sleeve — an overlay on your existing portfolio — and scale it to your investment goals.
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Start with the mandate
What the rest of the portfolio already holds, what you are trying to add, your time horizon and how much drawdown you can actually live through. That last one decides more than anything else.
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Screen and shortlist
We work through advisors against that mandate — markets traded, holding period, capacity, how they size risk, and how they behaved in conditions that hurt. You read the disclosure document before deciding.
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Structure the account
Individual, entity, retirement or notionally funded, at the clearing FCM that suits you. Multiple advisors can run in one structure with the allocations set deliberately rather than by accident.
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Monitor and report
Consolidated reporting across every advisor in the sleeve, alongside your FCM statements. If something drifts from the program you were shown, you hear it from us.
Diversification among trading advisors does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.
Go deeper
Two places to keep reading
Before you allocate
What is the minimum to open a managed account?
It is set by the trading advisor, not by BTR, and it varies widely with the markets a program trades and the size of the positions it takes. We look at it as a portfolio allocation, sized to the needs of your investments. We can work with accounts with as little as $10K to allocate to managed futures.
How am I charged?
Advisors typically charge a management fee and an incentive fee, both set out in their disclosure document, and commissions are charged on the trades placed in your account. The full detail is set out in your account documents before you sign anything.
Can I get my money out?
The account is yours and is not locked up. You can revoke a trading authorization and close positions. Bear in mind that closing during a drawdown makes that loss permanent, which is a decision worth making before you allocate, not during.
Is this suitable for a retirement account?
Managed futures can be held in some retirement structures. Whether it is appropriate for yours depends on your circumstances, and it is a question for your tax advisor as much as for us.
How is this different from a managed futures ETF or fund?
In a separately managed account you hold the positions directly, you see them daily, and the program is the one you selected. In a pooled vehicle you own a share of somebody else’s book on somebody else’s terms.
Talk to someone who knows.
A quick phone call will tell you more than an hour on any website. Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you whether we are the right fit for it.