Key Takeaways
- • Sector Arc Advisors' Global Lean Hog Ag Program won Coquest Inc.'s 2017 CTA Challenge, delivering a 23.24% gain and outperforming the S&P 500 in its first year of competition against 35 other commodity trading advisors.
- • The Chicago-based firm, founded in 2015 by Ben Johnson and Cory Brandt, uses a proprietary fundamental model developed from 17 years of collective trading experience to predict price movements in agricultural meat markets.
- • The Global Lean Hog Ag Program employs a discretionary trading strategy that integrates supply and demand data from cash markets, positioning it as a differentiated approach within the managed futures space.
- • The 2017 Coquest CTA Challenge provided a level playing field for both emerging and established managers to compete on performance, with Coquest utilizing proprietary metrics to evaluate and source commodity trading advisors.
Summary
Dallas-based Coquest Inc., a full-service brokerage and alternative investment consulting firm, announced on January 21, 2018, that Sector Arc Advisors claimed the top position in the 2017 Coquest CTA Challenge, a competition recognizing top-performing managed futures trading programs. Sector Arc's entry into the challenge marked its debut in the competition, yet the firm's Global Lean Hog Ag Program delivered a 23.24% return for the year ending December 31, 2017, surpassing both the S&P 500 Total Return Index and 35 competing commodity trading advisor programs in what the industry experienced as a challenging year for alternative asset management.
Sector Arc was founded in 2015 by Ben Johnson and Cory Brandt in Chicago. The pair developed their strategy by leveraging 17 years of combined experience in trading and market analysis, specifically focusing on the agricultural meat sector. The Global Lean Hog Ag Program operates as a discretionary trading strategy that incorporates both supply and demand fundamentals from underlying cash markets, distinguishing it from purely systematic or technical approaches.
Maxwell Eagye, managing director at Coquest, highlighted the challenge's significance as a venue where managers of all sizes and experience levels compete on equal footing. Coquest's evaluation framework employs proprietary metrics designed to identify and assess emerging talent alongside established firms, with the goal of spotlighting exceptional CTA performance not only relative to peer programs but also against broader asset classes. Sector Arc's first-year victory demonstrates the potential for newer managers with focused commodity strategies to achieve competitive returns in the managed futures space.
Sector Arc was founded in 2015 by Ben Johnson and Cory Brandt in Chicago. The pair developed their strategy by leveraging 17 years of combined experience in trading and market analysis, specifically focusing on the agricultural meat sector. The Global Lean Hog Ag Program operates as a discretionary trading strategy that incorporates both supply and demand fundamentals from underlying cash markets, distinguishing it from purely systematic or technical approaches.
Maxwell Eagye, managing director at Coquest, highlighted the challenge's significance as a venue where managers of all sizes and experience levels compete on equal footing. Coquest's evaluation framework employs proprietary metrics designed to identify and assess emerging talent alongside established firms, with the goal of spotlighting exceptional CTA performance not only relative to peer programs but also against broader asset classes. Sector Arc's first-year victory demonstrates the potential for newer managers with focused commodity strategies to achieve competitive returns in the managed futures space.
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