It’s a tough time to be a futures broker.
Despite surviving the 1-2 punch of MF Global and PFG, markets have been difficult to predict and volumes haven’t fully bounced back. In managed futures, CTAs as a group have under-performed and while traditional wisdom says to invest in a manager during a draw down—it’s a tough sale even for the most experienced investor.
While generally speaking, the rise of the stock market is good for our economy and a sign of a market rebound, it makes selling futures a harder proposition when low-cost, less-complex investment vehicles such as Stock Index ETFs are performing well.
Combine this with the fact that generating leads is harder, more expensive, and more work than before…what’s a broker to do?
I have the privilege of moderating an exciting panel discussion “Selling Commodities in an Equities Market” with some great fellow panelists including Daniel Ryba, Director of Client Development & Sales for retail business with the CME Group, and Jason Turnipseed of Managed Account Research Inc. (MARI).
Jason will cover managed futures with a focus on the “commodity traders” within the Commodity Trading Advisor space. With the broader CTA indices showing lackluster results in recent years, does the commodity trading specific managers have any value add in today’s market? Do these managers have a value proposition to offer in today’s single CTA and multi-manager allocations?
Dan prior to joining the CME Group was Director of Trading Client Services at E*Trade Financial Services where he launched a retail futures and FX business within the company and will bring his experience and knowledge to the panel.
We’ll recap why futures are still a good investment vehicle, discuss how businesses can market and sell futures in an environment when equities are outperforming, what potential opportunities are, and open the floor to discussion.
Please send me your questions directly or post them on the NIBA LinkedIn forum for review and discussion.
Following the conference I’ll write up some of the items discussed and post them in the NIBA Journal for all to access. I hope to see you in Chicago.
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About the Author
Shane Stiles is President of gate39media a web development and marketing firm specializing in the futures and financial industry. You can find him on LinkedIn where he also manages the NIBA LinkedIn Group and encourages you to join the group and contribute to the conversations. He can be reached at: shane@gate39media.com
The Opinions expressed are the opinions of the author. The opinions, the trading styles, trading information and trading programs are not endorsed by the NIBA, but are the individual opinions, styles, information and programs of the author.