Key Takeaways
- • Standpoint Asset Management's Multi-Asset Fund, launched in late December 2019, delivered a 76.98% total return through August 31, 2024, significantly outperforming the average of 28.44% across the 20 largest alternative mutual funds from competitors including AQR Capital Management, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan.
- • The Standpoint Multi-Asset Fund's institutional share class achieved a 13.00% annualized return with a 0.92 Sharpe ratio, compared to group averages of 5.39% and 0.39% respectively, demonstrating superior risk-adjusted performance over a near five-year period.
- • Managed futures faced investor skepticism following the 2008 financial crisis, when the asset class delivered negative performance in four of five years post-crisis according to the Barclay CTA index, despite the initial reputation boost from crisis-era outperformance that sparked a wave of low-cost '40 Act product launches.
- • Maximum drawdown for the Standpoint fund reached 9.84%, performing better than the group average of 13.46%, though seven other funds in the peer group experienced smaller peak-to-trough declines during the evaluation period.
- • Eric Crittenden, founder of Standpoint Asset Management based in Scottsdale, Arizona, structured the firm's managed futures strategy to deliver portfolio diversification and stable returns throughout full market cycles, positioning the asset class to fulfill its intended role despite historical performance volatility.
Summary
Managed futures have struggled with a credibility challenge among institutional investors, particularly following a reputation boom during the 2008 financial crisis. The asset class initially garnered attention for its portfolio diversification benefits during market stress, prompting fund companies to launch accessible '40 Act products at substantially lower fee structures than traditional managed futures programs. However, the timing of this retail expansion proved damaging—managed futures delivered negative performance in four of the five years immediately following the crisis according to the Barclay CTA index, eroding investor confidence in the diversification narrative and leaving many market participants skeptical about the strategy's value proposition.
Eric Crittenden, founder and portfolio manager at Standpoint Asset Management in Scottsdale, Arizona, brings firsthand experience with this volatility from his prior institutional roles. Rather than abandon the space, he structured the Standpoint Multi-Asset Fund with an explicit mandate to restore credibility by delivering the portfolio diversification and stable returns that managed futures are theoretically designed to provide throughout complete market cycles. Launched in late December 2019, the fund's institutional share class has produced notable empirical results against a competitive peer set.
Through August 31, 2024, the Standpoint Multi-Asset Fund's institutional shares generated a 76.98% total return, substantially exceeding the 28.44% average return of the 20 largest alternative mutual funds—a group comprising heavyweight competitors including AQR Capital Management, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan. On annualized returns, the Standpoint fund delivered 13.00% versus the peer group average of 5.39%. The risk-adjusted performance gap widened further on Sharpe ratio, where the fund achieved 0.92 compared to the group average of 0.39, indicating superior returns per unit of volatility. Maximum drawdown for the Standpoint fund measured 9.84%, performing favorably relative to the broader group's 13.46% average maximum decline, though seven individual funds in the comparison group posted smaller peak-to-trough declines. These metrics suggest that structurally refined managed futures approaches may successfully address the historical credibility deficits facing the asset class while fulfilling their intended role as diversifiers within balanced institutional portfolios.
Eric Crittenden, founder and portfolio manager at Standpoint Asset Management in Scottsdale, Arizona, brings firsthand experience with this volatility from his prior institutional roles. Rather than abandon the space, he structured the Standpoint Multi-Asset Fund with an explicit mandate to restore credibility by delivering the portfolio diversification and stable returns that managed futures are theoretically designed to provide throughout complete market cycles. Launched in late December 2019, the fund's institutional share class has produced notable empirical results against a competitive peer set.
Through August 31, 2024, the Standpoint Multi-Asset Fund's institutional shares generated a 76.98% total return, substantially exceeding the 28.44% average return of the 20 largest alternative mutual funds—a group comprising heavyweight competitors including AQR Capital Management, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan. On annualized returns, the Standpoint fund delivered 13.00% versus the peer group average of 5.39%. The risk-adjusted performance gap widened further on Sharpe ratio, where the fund achieved 0.92 compared to the group average of 0.39, indicating superior returns per unit of volatility. Maximum drawdown for the Standpoint fund measured 9.84%, performing favorably relative to the broader group's 13.46% average maximum decline, though seven individual funds in the comparison group posted smaller peak-to-trough declines. These metrics suggest that structurally refined managed futures approaches may successfully address the historical credibility deficits facing the asset class while fulfilling their intended role as diversifiers within balanced institutional portfolios.
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